Jet Squid Radio
by Mista Mushoo
Summary: In a world where the culture's focus in on a sport called Turf Wars, there's a certain unspoken set of rules everyone has to follow. It's practically a crime to not play Turf Wars. Follow a group of outsiders as they band together to show the world there's more to their ink than just using it for games. Rated T for Troublemakers and only the lightest of swearing. BACK FOR REAL NOW!
1. -C0: Funky Upstarts-

It was a nice and calm morning in Inkopolis. Today was a very normal kind of day for the citizens of this fine little city. In this town resides one of the humblest creatures known to its kind, the Inklings. These squid kids liked to play games with eachother! Their main game? A little game called Turf War! A game where inklings form teams of two to fight against eachother to see who can cover the most of the battlefield's floor in their team colored ink. It's all in good fun, and it even pays all participants for their time, whether they win or lose! To these inklings, this was perfect!

Well, to most of them, anyway. There we some inklings who didn't appreciate the way Turf Wars worked.

Many of these inklings became outcasts because of this fact alone. It's easy to see why, since Turf Wars are so rooted in inkling culture. For the longest time, these squid kids kept to themselves, finding other ways to pass the time, never really finding anyone to hang out with due to the way inklings like them were looked down upon.

Beat was one of those inklings. He was never one to enjoy Turf Wars, mainly because he felt it restricted his artistic form. He tried to avoid it as much as possible, instead staying at home by himself to work on remixing popular songs for his own enjoyment. Beat was doing this very thing today, before he sighed out of boredom. "This sucks..." He said, bored slightly as he spun his headset's cord around. There was only so many times you could remix a song from the squid sisters before you ran out of material to work with. Why did they have to be so popular anyway?

He sighed, as he leaned back in his chair, and stared at a nearby mirror. Beat was a rather normal looking inkling boy, by most people's standards. Even if he didn't put his tentacles in that old fashioned ponytail. His green eyes stared back at him through his reflection, before moving over to the mop that was his reddish orange tentacles. He poked it absentmindedly, feeling the familiar shiver it sent through him. He smiled despite himself, as he got up and grabbed his freshest clothes. Not fresh in style, just fresh as in 'clean enough to wear outside'. He took his headphones with him as he walked down the street to a nearby resturaunt. Lunchtime would help clear up the boredom...

He sat down at a table by himself, and ordered himself a meal, before hanging out, waiting for his meal to be delivered. He listened to his music as he waited. He couldn't help but notice some squids sitting together at a table nearby. They couldn't help but notice him, either.

There was a blue inkboy enioying a fairly simple crabby cake, which he was sharing with his lime haired inkgirl friend. They were caught in the act of staring at Beat's rather strange choice of clothing. Not that they were any better. Beat may not have had the most conventional of clothing, having taken a liking to a certain yellow T-Shirt with black sleeves, but at least it was his own, and no one else's. No other shirt like that existed, as far as most inklings were aware. The lime colored inkling and her blue companion were as equally strange in clothing. The light green one wearing a rather plain light green skirt with some interesting blue highlights at the hems, which was unique, but still rather normal. What was strange was the helmet she wore. It was definitely unique, seeing as no one else could have owned something like it, or would have dared to try and wear something as gaudy as it, and yet somehow, this inkgirl was able to pull it off rather well.

The blue one was probably the most interesting of them all, because he wore a jumpsuit of all things. In Inkling society, it was considered frowned upon to wear pants, sticking instead to simple black shorts instead. It was the kind of clothing all inklings wore, as a matter of fact. The only kind... Which made what this blue inkling was wearing borderline sacrilegious. He wore a beanie of some sort that tried to hide his eyes from the world, and it worked rather well when he himself wasn't making eye contact with someone, which he was with beat right now. The lime and blue squiddies exchanged a look, before heading over to Beat, with a smile on their face.

"Well hello there, fellow outcast!" The lime one said, as she sat down at his table. "I heard you order a full meal just now. What was that about?" It was generally accepted that if you didn't play Turf Wars, it was because you had a whole retirement plan to go through with. Or it was because you were an outsider, and didn't play it. The difference between the two is that one has had a whole career, where they've made enough money to even retire in the first place, and the other one has really limited options in how to make money at all because of their avoidance of a certain sport...

Beat chuckled, as he shrugged. "I sell off remixes of songs for people to enjoy. It pays the pills, and then some." He smiled a toothy smile, while he welcomed his fellow outsiders, simply relishing in the moment that someone, even another outsider, was willing to hang out with him. "Name's Beat, by the way. What's yours?"

"I'm Gum. It's a pleasure to meet you!" The lime inkling beamed, as she held out her hand to shake Beat's. She nodded in the direction of the blue one, who had yet to take a seat with them. "That one over there is Tab. He doesn't speak much to strangers."

Tab chuckled, as he sat down. "Aren't we supposed to be the 'strangers' here, Gum?" He shook Beat's hand as well. "Pleasure to meet someone who's got their lives in order, what with the not playing Turf Wars and all that."

"You two are probably the strangest, as far as I know. Wasn't it an unspoken rule to keep us outsiders separated from eachother?" Beat said, with a smirk, as he hung his headphones from his head to place them around his neck.

They all had a good laugh with eachother for a while. They exchanged small talk, talking about what they like to do instead of turf wars.

"You guys ever hear of rollerskating?" Beat asked, as he dug into his meal which had been served just a minute ago.

"Rollerskating? What's that?" Gum's interest was piqued, as Tab gave Beat a quizzical look.

"It's this really cool thing!" Beat said enthusiastically, after having gulped down half his food already. "Like, imagine you guys swimming around in ink puddles, right? You know how fast that is, right?"

Tab nodded. "Yeah. Fastest way to get around without super jumping, as far as I know. You still gotta get up to make a new trail everywhere you go, though..." he said, drinking a nice refreshing can of 'Dr. Squidder'.

Beat smiled wide. "Right. Imagine going _faster_ than that! And without the ink either!"

Gum's eyebrow raised. "You're joking, right? And how do you manage that? Did you put wheels on your shoes or something?" She laughed at Beat's expense, only to see that Beat's smile never faltered.

"Actually..." Gum went silent, before laughing again. Beat waited patiently for her to stop, and she did. "It's pretty cool too! I'm tellin' ya, you haven't had fun until you've skated down the sidewalk on a downward slope, alright?"

Tab and Gum shared another glance, before they laughed again. "Tell ya what, why don't ya prove it, Beat?" Tab challenged. "Show me and Gum what those wheel shoes can do, if they're as cool as you say they are."

Beat's toothy smirk lit up his features, as he finished up his food and licked off his fingers. "You might wanna borrow a spare helmet from Gum, Tab, because it'll make it easier to keep everything inside after I blow your minds..."

* * *

 _-= **Chapter 0: Funky Up-Starts** =-_

* * *

Gum and Tab hung around an empty lot, with many natural dips and curves. It was an abandoned project of some sort that the people of Inkopolis had planned on working on at one point, but they seemed to have given up on it in favor of working more inland, since this place was more out of the way from town than most other places. No one came around here, save for the occasional wanderer.

Beat told them that he would be here to show off his 'Roller Skates' to them. And he was late...

"You think he's gonna show up?" Tab asked, adjusting the zipper on his jumpsuit to reveal the yellow shirt underneath. "I told my friend I'd meet up with him to work on his 'project' today..."

"He might just be full of it, Tab, but I wanna at least give him the benefit of the doubt." Gum said, twiddling her thumbs as she leaned on a wall nearby.

They suddenly heard a strange sound coming at them. _Skrit, Skrit, Skrit, Skrrrriiiiiit!_ Beat suddenly slid into view on his roller skates, turning them to their side to stop them from moving, and to face both Tab and Gum, who were raising their eyebrows at the strange design of these wheeled shoes. "Heya guys!" He said, giving them a two finger salute. "How's it hangin'?"

Gum grinned at him. "Took you long enough. So, is it alright if you go easy on us? I don't have a spare helmet for Tab."

Tab chuckled. "Don't worry about it dude. I just wanna see if what you said is true or not. You good with those things?"

Beat smirked, as he did a little twirl on his skates. "Am I good? More like I'm the best!" He did a pose on his skates in an attempt to look cool.

"Well it's easy to say you're the best when you're the only one, right?" Gum remarked, twirling her tentacle hair in her hand a bit.

Beat started to slide back slowly, and precariously towards a steep little hill. "Why don't you guys check it for yourself?" He smiled at the two inklings, watching them as he slid backwards down the hill at quick speeds. The two inklings were almost horrified. What if the crazy bastard splatted himself against a wall going that fast?! They ran to the edge to see him about to go up a quarter-pipe that had deteriorated from a half pipe. As soon as he flew into the sky, Beat did a little flip, before fluidly sticking the landing down the pipe, and skating quickly to the other side of the area, and then as quickly as he got there, he came back to his spectators, his eyes wide with expectation.

Gum and Tab were indeed a little impressed. "Alright," Gum started, putting her hands on her hips as her eyes looked Beat over. "I admit, that was pretty cool, but is that all you can do on those things?"

Beat scoffed. "Of course. I can totally do way more with these bad boys. Wanna see?"

Gum thought for a moment, her finger and thumb grabbing onto her chin, she looked around, then nodded at a little clearing, with some rails set up around it. "What can you do on those things?"

Beat looked at the railings, then back to Gum with a knowing smile. "Those railings? Lemme show ya." He tightened up the laces on his roller skate a bit, before he sped off to the railings. Gum thought he was going to ram himself straight into the end of it at one point, but then he did a short hop and grinded across the railing instead. He did another hop as he transitioned to the next railing, and he continued to do that, doing a small little stunt at the end, after having done a full circle back to Gum.

Gum nodded, a smile on her face. "Not bad at all. That actually looks pretty fun!"

Tab patted Beat on the shoulder before he could accept his praise, and held out a small can of some sort, with a strange nozzle at the top. "Hey man, you ever seen one of these things before?"

Beat investigated the little can in his hand. It was green in color, and made a rattling noise when he shook it. The RollerSkating squid looked at his friend with a quizzical kind of look.

"It's a spray can," Tab said, answering Beat's unsaid question. "You can use them to paint the walls and stuff."

Gum gave Tab a knowing smile. "Ah, trying to teach him the ways of Vandalism, are you Tab?" Tab laughed it off, as Gum turned to Beat. "You press down on the nozzle at the top, and it sprays out some thin ink."

Beat looked at the can's nozzle, and did as instructed, spraying himself in the face with some green ink. He sputtered and coughed, with Gum and Tab laughing at his expense. "Note to self, aim the can at the opposite direction of my face..." Beat muttered to himself, wiping off the ink. He noticed something strange though when he did so. "Hey wait, are you sure this is ink? It doesn't hurt at all..."

"It's been watered down." Tab explained. "It's thin, too, so if you were gonna hurt anything with that, you're gonna need like, ten cans, and that's if you're aiming for exposed skin."

Beat chuckled. "Guess I'm not splatting anyone anytime soon with this thing. Think they got anything like this for their little Turf Wars?"

Gum and Tab shrugged. "How would we know?" Gum remarked.

Tab patted Beat on the shoulder for his attention. "Listen kid, you got some cool moves, I admit, but this place looks a little clean, don't ya think? It's a little too..."

The group looked around at the blandness of this area. The only color for a mile or so was a bland and tasteless gray. "Boring..." Tab finished saying. He nodded at the spray can in Beat's hand, and smiled knowingly at him. "Wanna fix that? I can help out." Tab pulled out some spray cans, and walked up to a nearby wall, before going to work, spraying a rather nice little mural of his name in blue letters. He looked over at Beat and Gum.

Beat looked kinda confused, while Gum was looking rather proud of Tab. "Hey, simple is good, right?" She remarked. Beat looked at her and Tab like they had grown a second head, or fused the ones they already had with each other.

He chuckled. "Alright. Cool. So you want me to spray up 'Squid Hole' with some of this spray ink, huh?"

"Is that what this dump is called?" Tab scoffed at Beat.

Gum shrugged plainly. "I think it's represents this place pretty well."

Beat gave Gum a thumbs up, with a nice little toothy smile to accompany it. "Good to hear someone agrees with me on that." He turned his backs to them as he took in the dull scenery before him. "It's about time this place got a little ink over, don't you think?" Gum and Tab smiled at their new friend, as he turned around to them. "But, how are you guys gonna keep up with me if you keep wasting your ink trying to superjump after me?"

Tab and Gum shared a look of confusion, before realization dawned on them. They looked at Beat with a surprised look as he pulled out two pairs of roller skates. "Come on, guys! I'll teach ya how it's done!"

Beat skated off excitedly, while Tab and Gum looked at their new roller skates in wonder. Tab's was an interesting yellow color, while Gum's was a cool light blue. They smiled at eachother, before putting on their new skates, as they got ready to skate up the dull and colorless land that was the 'Squid Hole'...

* * *

 _-= **Cleared!** =-  
Rank: Pe **D** al_

* * *

 **DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (The important part)**  
Hey guys. So I've written a lot of strange stories before I deleted them because I just didn't like them, or they didn't get enough attention, and so I've had a bit of practice, however, I don't want to believe I am at my best when it comes to writing. I just want people to write up their constructive criticisms in the reviews and tell me how I did. What should I add? What should I remove? Do you think the way I wrote these characters are 'In Character' or not? It's hard to say what's 'In Character' for the Jet Set Radio characters, considering the fact that they only get one or two lines of dialogue that isn't the same as everyone else, and I like to believe the majority of their personality comes from how they dress up, since that's pretty much the only thing (and most unique thing) that everyone in JSR has.

 **(The not important part.)**  
So yeah. I just wanna start off by saying that Jet Set Radio is an amazing game that needs more sequels, because this is a classic game that I believe everyone should play. I also wanna bring to people's attention that even if people should know who these characters are based on their likeness, you should always pretend you're introducing a new character that nobody knows about, and that was the kind of approach I tried to take here, actually. As somebody who isn't up to date on a lot of things, I like to read crossovers of stories involving my favorite things (TF2, Splatoon, Comix Zo- Oh wait...) and I find it personally annoying when a character is introduced and you're supposed to know every little thing about this character, like their favorite food, or their secret ability _Sacred Blossom Storm_ or something, and try to understand the significance of these moves. I dunno, it's just a personal gripe that might not make any sense.

I'm also going to never redo anything done in this story, mainly to keep it as a kind of time capsule, and because I expect to make this a pretty extended story. I don't have an exact number of chapters, but my goal is to have at least 40 something chapters. So yeah, thanks for sticking by guys, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Keep on rebellin', rudies.


	2. -C1,P1: Thunderin' Storm-

_BANG! Clatter, clatter._

" _ **Marieeeeeee**! Why did you leave the snacks on the top sheeelf?!"_

"I put them up there so you could stop sneaking into them at night."

A stylish looking green inkling girl sat on a couch, with a book in her hand and a bored look on her face, but that was always the case with her face. She wasn't normally an emotive person.

An equally stylish pink girl came into the room, with a downtrodden face of defeat and a pout adorning her features. "But _Marieeeee_! We got work in an hour! I don't wanna go on an empty stomach and we gotta stay at our freshest! You know that!"

Marie sighed, putting her book down as she got up. "We're the same height you know. You could just grab a stool." She said as she walked into the kitchen. "Besides, do we really have to come in for work? I thought we recorded saying what today's rotation was..." Callie brought a small chair and stood precariously on top, as she reached for the box of Squiddie Snax at the top shelf.

"Yeah but we've got important news to report today!" The pink inkgirl bounced excitedly. "It's new and interesting and I wanna make sure we're ready!"

"Callie, I don't remember anything about there being any 'Breaking News' today." Marie gave Callie a small handful of Snax from the box, before watching Marie chow down rather messily on the unhealthy food.

"I know" Callie said with her mouth full, before she took out her Cell Phone and showed it to Marie. "I just got the message a minute ago." Marie explained.

Marie looked over at the message with a disinterested look. 'Come to the station quick! We got breaking news to report!' She read. That new producer they hired had an ecstatic nature that seemed to spread to their text messages... "I suppose it can't be helped then..."

Callie grabbed Marie by the wrist suddenly, and began to drag her out. "Come on! We're gonna be late!" she exclaimed, as they rushed through their home to head to the TV Studio. Marie didn't quite see the rush. The world would stop on a dime if they could get a simple glimpse of the Squid Sisters in public. They could afford to take their time. Literally. They were loaded with money. That's just show biz for you.

Callie and Marie are known popularly through the city of Inkopolis as the 'Squid Sisters', although unknown to most, they're actually just cousins with a passion for fashion. They weren't just the Squid Sisters though. They were famous for a reason. They're on the top of every song list, sure, but their main claim to fame is the fact that they are essentially the face of Turf Wars. Every day, they announce everything they can about Turf Wars. Upcoming updates, map rotations, the works. They announce it all and it's all broadcasted publicly and with priority. If the Squid Sisters say jump, Inkopolis would be in space...

That's just the kind of influence they had, but that didn't give them a reason to quit their jobs.

This is why Marie decided to let herself be dragged to work. Something interesting caught her eyes as she was rushed through the streets of Inkopolis, however. It was strange, because the walls of Inkopolis was now sporting some rather strange new wallpapers, with the names 'Tab', 'Beat', and 'Gum' sprayed across the walls of a bunch of the less traveled streets, and all of them were in rather elaborate designs. Marie had a sneaking suspicion about these words on the wall. When the Squid Sisters finally got to the studio, it was a complete mess, with everyone running around trying to get everything set up, with a director making sure everything was just right. The slightest hue wrong could apparently ruin everything, but Marie didn't quite believe that. Who would notice if the screen was just a slight bit brighter than before?

As soon as Marie and Callie walked into the studio, their producer came to them almost seconds later. "You guys are here! Great! We gotta talk! Lemme pull you to the side and catch you up to speed..." said the orange inkling girl, her glasses almost falling off. The Squid Sisters obliged, and were pulled away from a busy camera crew, who were working tirelessly to set up everything before they aired live on TV.

"What's up Shelly?" Callie asked, while Shelly fiddled with the papers on her clipboard.

Shelly put on some glasses as she began to read the paper out loud. "There's been reports of a small group of Inklings running around town with some Spray Ink and they've been inking up the walls of some inkling homes." She sighed. "I don't know what would possess them to do something like this. Why not just play a game of Turf War instead if they were planning to get the walls dirty?"

Marie sighed, as she sat down in a nearby chair while Callie excitedly went into a changing room to get freshened up. "When do we go live...?"

Shelly looked to a nearby clock. "Five minutes..."

* * *

 _-= **Chapter 1, Part 1: Thunderin' Storms** =-_

* * *

Beat, Gum, and Tab had just hit up half of the Inkuya suburbs with inked up hands and about thirty empty cans each in some duffle bags. They high fived eachother upon reaching Beat's home, with a smirk on their face. "You guys wanna head inside? We can clean up in there." Beat said, taking his roller skates off.

Tab and Gum agreed. "Man, that was great. I didn't think you could catch on that quickly!" Tab said, punching Beat lightly in the arm.

"Eh, Spray paintin' is easy." Beat said cooly, as he walked into his home.

"You made it look easy when you sprayed your name on one of those monitors about two stories up." Gum giggled, following suit after getting her own skates off. Tab did the same, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow. "We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, you guys did great on your skates! You know, for beginners at least..." Beat took a seat on the couch, and turned on an old television nearby. Beat's house wasn't exactly the most expensive house, but it was enough for most Inklings to get by in. One could easily see that he spent most of his money on the DJ setup that was hooked up to a nearby computer. Beat got up from the couch, having forgot to be polite to his new friends. "Hey, you guys want anything?"

"You got some anchovies somewhere?" Tab asked, as he investigated the speaker set. "Oh, hey, you got some music to play, right?"

"That's a dumb question." Beat said as he made his way over to Tab, who was currently thumbing through Beat's records. "You wanna see for yourself?"

Gum came up to the group, with her skates in hand. "Yeah, let's hear some of that music of yours. You said you did remixes?"

Beat smiled, as he placed a record on the player, set the stereo to a volume that wasn't too loud, and hit the play button. A small tune began to play, with a nice little beat to it. It definitely was more unique than whatever album the Squid Sisters would ever release.

"This one is actually original. I call it _'Humming the Bassline'_."

Tab and Gum were pleasantly surprised by the song. It definitely was catchy... Beat left them to listen to his music while he looked for some anchovies. It wasn't long after he found them that he heard a rather familiar jingle play out on his TV. "That's not a scheduled broadcast..." Beat groaned, despite not actually being interested, or rather, not having enough time to watch whatever show had just been interrupted. He walked into the TV room, and his eyes went wide. He practically spun, as he called out to his friends. " _Guys! We're on TV!_ "

Tab and Gum came to see what was going on, to see that Beat wasn't lying.

"Hello citizens of Inkopolis!" Callie said on screen. "My name is Callie!"

"And I'm Marie." The respective other sister said from the other side of the screen.

Gum had taken a seat next to Beat on the couch, while Tab leaned over the edge from behind it, leaning in between the two.

"And today, the Squid sisters are bringing you a special news report! Right Marie?"

"Right, Callie."

The screen had been flashing through a slideshow of a bunch of graffiti that had been painted onto the walls by Gum, Tab, and Beat. It then changed to show a picture of the three of them skating through the streets of Inkuya, spray cans in hand. "These troublesome inklings have recently been seen speeding around on these strange wheel shoes called Roller Skates in the small little suburb of Inkuya, and they've been painting their names all over the walls! A lot of inklings got really mad about the sudden redecoration and-"

Tab's phone suddenly started going off. He picked up. "Hello?" He asked his caller. Tab lit up suddenly. "You saw that, right? We're on TV man!"

"Is that K?" Gum asked.

"Who's K?" Beat asked in response.

"Yeah man, I'm with 'em right now. Yeah lemme put you on speaker." Tab took the phone away from his ear. "He want's to talk to you guys too." He pressed a button on his phone, as the speakers turned on to let his caller speak openly.

"Yo, are you those funky fresh squids that tore up Inkuya?"

Beat practically beamed at being called fresh. "Yeah, that was us alright. Who are you?"

The man on the other end laughed. "Name's Professor K. You can just call me K though. You kids really riled up the town with that, ya know. I didn't think I saw an angrier group of inklings in the middle of town square before!"

"Pfft, they deserved it." Gum said nonchalantly.

"Didn't I tell you guys not to ink up other peoples houses like that?" K said jokingly. "And what's up with those... Er... What do ya call them. Roller Skates? Those things are fresh man! Where'd you find those?"

Beat chuckled. "I made them myself actually."

"Man, you better come over to where I am with those things because we gotta work on them together!"

"Hey K, did you know this guy mixes up music too? He could help you with your little 'project'."

"Oh you better be bringing my hopes up like that for a reason, Tab!" K sounded ecstatic about this strange new 'project'.

"Hey man, what are you? Some kind of producer or something?" Beat asked, having forgotten completely about the TV.

"With your help, I might be the greatest radio station host known to squid kind!" K laughed heartily. "Oh man, I'm shakin'! You gotta get Tab to show you where I'm at! Bring your skates and your best records man! I'm lookin' forward to seein ya!"

The phone beeped, indicating that the call ended, and Tab placed the phone in his pocket again. "You heard the big guy. Pack up your stuff Beat."

"Woah, hang on." Beat stopped him. "Who even was that guy?"

Tab sighed, as he grabbed his phone out of his pocket again, and pulled up a picture of a dark skinned inkling, with a rather strange thing happening to his tentacles that made them look like strange lightening bolts were just resting there on his head. He wore sunglasses that obscured his identity. "This is Professor K. He says he's gonna turn the whole society on it's head. Wouldn't that be something?" After a bit of a laugh, Tab put his phone into his pocket for the final time, and headed to the door. "I'm gonna go meet up with him. Gum, you comin'?"

"Just a sec!" Gum said, as she hopped off the couch. "I'll see ya later, Beat! I gotta go take care of some stuff at home, and I'll meet you guys soon, alright?"

Beat gave Gum a two finger salute. "You got it. Stay out of trouble until we get there to get in it with you."

They all exchanged a friendly smile, before they split. Gum left for her home, Tab left to meet up with K, and Beat stayed so that he could pack his things. Beat stared at the TV a bit before he did, as Callie and Marie began to finish up their broadcast.

"Remember, if anyone sees anything, or anyone suspicious, feel free to report it to your nearest police station!" Callie had finished wrapping up her part. "And remember..."

Both sisters did a little pose, mirroring eachother almost perfectly, save for their emotions on their faces, as they signaled off the broadcast. _"Stay Fresh!"_

"Yeah yeah, shut it already." Beat said, as he gave the TV a wayward wave, as if it could hear him or something. He moved around his home, packing up his best and favorite tracks, before putting on his skates and leaving his house. He received a text message as soon as he locked up his house. Tab sent him the address. It was time to meet this eccentric inkling...

* * *

A lone inkling walked out of his recent Turf War with yet another victory under their belt. Turf wars were getting too easy. Ever since they reached the top of the leaderboards, no opposing team would have a chance of even remotely winning against them. It's been like that for weeks now. They were starting to feel lonely at the top, too. They needed something to do, and they needed it soon. With a sigh, they brought out their phone to see that there was a news alert sent to them.

They played the recording that came with the alert, and watched as today's broadcast was played back to them.

They paused the video on the profile shots of some certain punks showing up on screen. A red, green, and blue inkling. The blue one's clothes were blurred out for some reason.

They was mesmerized by these inkling's appearance. They were the same as any other inkling, and yet they seemed so... Different.

"Did you hear about what happened to that old inkling's house in Inkuya?" The video viewing inkling heard faintly. "I hear they inked up the whole house with their names!"

"Yeah! I was there! They almost rolled right over me!" Another voice responded. "I thought they were going to ink me on the spot! I was so lucky they didn't though!"

"Man, those squids are just so... _Rude!_ "

"I completely agree! A group of _Rudies_ is what they are!"

The eavesdropper's ears pricked at that sound. _Rudies huh?_

Agent 3 placed their phone away, as they adjusted the gas mask that hid their features, and started towards a little sewer grate that was slightly out of the way. A quick talk with the Captain Cuttlefish would help find out more about these _Rudies_...

* * *

Beat finally made it to Professor K's hideout. It was so out of the way, it was a miracle that Beat figured out that the Address he made it to even existed at all. After following some interesting signs on the walls that led through a small little sewer system, Beat found himself skating up to a little door with a letter "K" inked onto it's door handle. Beat touched it and confirmed that it was dried up, and then opened the door.

Tab and Beat were inside, along with that dark inkling with the purple tentacles, Professor K. Beat skated inside, with his previously used dufflebag filled with records and his now unassembled DJ set, while the three were having their conversation.

"So you crazy squids just inked up all the walls with my spray cans after you learned how to skate, huh?" Professor K said, with a kind of showey and theatrical way of talking.

"Yeah! We said we'd stop at the road where 'Squid Hole' ended, and instead of stopping, we just kept going! Beat, Gum, and me just went ahead and started spraying up walls with our names! Man, I'd never felt so good before!" Tab was practically beaming as he recounted the story of the troublesome trio shredding up the town and spraying up half of Inkuya.

"Could you imagine how angry everyone would've been if we sprayed up ALL of Inkuya like that?" Gum added in, with her own smile lightening up the room.

"Who says we still can't?" Beat said, making his presence known to the group.

" _Heeeey!_ There's the squid of the hour!" K practically strolled over to where Beat was and patted him on the back. "That was some fresh stuff, kid! But, I gotta answer your question first. Seems like those Squid Sisters riled up a lot more than the inkling houses you inked your names into..."

"What do you mean by that?" Beat asked, as he started to place his stuff down on a nearby couch, taking in the area around him.

The room was pretty spacious, with the couch, now occupied by Beat's equipment, taking a comfy spot near the corner of the room, and a large stereo set up at the other end of the room. It looked like a pretty empty garage, with the only color being that of the couch, rug, and stereo.

"Seems like they got the police force looking all over Inkuya for ya." K explained. "They even pulled out all the stops on you. You guys are wanted criminals now!" The self proclaimed professor laughed, but Beat felt his stomach drop. "Hey, don't worry man! You're safe in our hideout here. This place is about as secret and underground as it gets! You can stay as long as ya need."

Beat sighed, feeling a little better. "Aw man, but what about my house?"

K shrugged. "Hey, you think the police are gonna steal your stuff while they watch your front door or something?" He patted Beat on the shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry about it too much man. I won't let the big bad squids from the police throw ya in a snow globe."

Beat shook his head, as he sat on the couch. "That kinda sucks..." He relaxed into the couch, acting nonchalant soon after. "Ah well. I guess it gives me more time to work on my music."

Tab walked over and sat by Beat on the couch. "Speakin' of which. I think the nice professor here would like to talk to you about that."

Gum also took a seat, moving Beat's equipment to the floor. "I've been dying to hear about this all day!" She said enthusiastically.

K had to pull up his own seat in front of the group. "Alright alright, settle down squiddies. I got ya covered. Listen here..." It seemed as if the room got darker, and a spotlight had just shone onto K as he began to speak.

"You all know about those Squid Sisters, right? Well, do you know why they were on the top of the song lists in the first place? You may all be surprised to know, but I was actually the best producer out there. There wouldn't be a day where it was safe to say something about music without your main squid K bein' brought up too. And vice versa! I was the greatest producer known to squid kind! I was what started those Squid Sisters career! Lemme tell ya, those kids were too talented to let any other low grade producer get their tentacles on them." Professor K leaned into his seat a bit, as Beat, Tab, and Gum all leaned in to listen to this story. After affirming he had their complete attention, K kept going.

"It was like that for months, before they dropped me to go off on their own. I taught them everything they know, and they even did better than me at producing! You can't say that lightly, either! I didn't know at the time, but they were too good to be let out into the world..." K sighed, as he looked wistfully into the air. "The music industry suffocated under the wrath that was the Squid Sisters. There wasn't a single radio station where you didn't hear the sweet singing of those two. They were the best, and because of that, no one saw a reason to try and outdo them. Sure, you hear about a song sometimes making it to the top 20, and that's a big achievement alone, but it quickly gets smushed under the powerhouse of a duo..."

Beat raised his hand suddenly. "Uh, Excuse me Mr. K? What does this have to do with your 'project' though?"

"Man what is this, some kind of movie? I was just gettin' to that part! And you just aced your line as the 'Interrupting inkling that stop's someone's backstory to get to the point'!"

Beat slowly lowered his hand. "Sorry."

"Anyway, forget about that. Because of the Squid Sister Singularity, as I like to call it, there's no radio station on this planet that plays anything original anymore! It's just Squid Sisters this, Squid Sisters that! Well, I'm gonna change all that!" K pointed to Beat, who suddenly recoiled. "And that starts with you, kid!"

"Me?" Beat asked, pointing a finger to himself, as Tab and Gum gave Beat a look. "Why am I important?"

"I'm lookin' for something kid..." K started to explain again, as he turned the chair around and sat in it backwards. "I'm lookin' for that little spark. That little thing that makes everyone unique. I'm lookin' for something new and fresh to take the world by storm! And if Tab says your music is as fresh as he described it, then I think I've found my storm!"

Beat looked to his bag that had been resting on the floor for a considerable amount of time, before looking back to his present company. Professor K was looking at Beat expectantly, Gum was giving Beat an encouraging look, and Tab was giving beat a knowing smirk. Beat smirked back, before looking at Professor K with a great big smile on his face. "Alright! Well then, Profesor K, What's my first order of business as your 'Storm'?"

* * *

-= _ **Chapter 1, Part 1: Complete!**_ =-

 _Beat has joined up with Professor K!_

* * *

 **DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (Now completely skipable!)  
** Hey you! Yeah you, _**learfejr**! _ This chapter goes out to you, my dude! Thanks for being my first follow on this story! I know it's dumb to thank you for something so simple, but when I got that email saying someone followed my story, I felt a little jump in my heart man. I'm just hoping I'll eventually get to feel that again from another user on this site! **  
**

Anyway, referring to my last AN, I may or may not be wrong about the characters of JSR not having any... Well... Character.

I'm not going back to fix that if I am wrong. I feel like the way I wrote up the characters is pretty interesting in it's own little way, while still keeping in some loose description of the character. Besides, if I'm gonna screw something up, I'm not gonna wuss out and rewrite an entire story somewhere down the line because of it. The only way I see that happening is if I completely destroy the story by being completely dumb in my own ways. Not by trying to fix things that will only break more things when I do fix it.

Anyway, to anyone else sitting at home reading this story, please do me the favor of writing a review. Something as simple as _"Heeeeyyy, that's pretty good!"_ is perfectly fine with me, but if there's anything I appreciate more than people giving into my attention whoring personality, it's people who give me constructive criticism in the hopes that I'll take their advice and get better at writing!

Anyway, this AN got a bit long, so I'm gonna end it here. Keep on rebellin', rudies, and I'll see ya in the next chapter!


	3. -C1,P2: The Pirates of Music-

Beat skated down the empty roads on a downward slope, a red scarf obscuring his face from the world. His headphones held firmly to his head, but they weren't playing music. Not yet it isn't. He took out a walkie talkie from his back pocket.

"Hey, it's me. I'm almost at the radio station."

The walkie crackled to life. " _Alright, nice work so far. None of the cops are on ya yet. You're doing just great._ " Tab said from the other side of the receiver.

Beat sighed restlessly, as nervousness scratched at his body in every direction. "Man, I can live with being a vandal, but breaking and entering? You guys sure about this?"

"Don't worry about it, Beat!" Gum said from her walkie this time. " _You're the best skater here out of all of us! If anyone should be nervous, it should be us._ "

" _Alright alright, quiet down Squiddies._ " Professor K made himself heard. " _You all remember the plan, right_?" Professor K waited to see if anyone had any questions. " _Alright, I'll take the silence as a '_ You got it, Professor K, stay fresh! _', but hold onto your shorts, I ain't done yet_."

Beat sighed. "Could you get on with it?!"

" _Alright alright! Chill out red! Okay, let's do a quick roll call now. Sound off!_ "

" _Tab here, runnin' the police radio in the next door apartment._ "

" _I'm Gum, obviously. Playing the role of 'Distracting Damsel'._ " Gum very faintly retched over the radio jokingly.

"That leaves me. And I'm... _Uh..._ "

" _Ah, come on Beat! Don't tell your uncle K you forgot what you're doin!_ "

"I didn't forget! It's just... Why are we doing this again?"

Professor K sighed. " _Alright, lemme give you the quick rundown._ _You're going out to the radio station so we can highjack it. When you get inside, you're gonna try and get your way up the tower, and tape the bug to the top of the antenna. All you gotta do afterwards is leg it back here when you're done! Just remember to use the alleyways, and you're fresher than a three star, red!_ "

Beat sighed. "Alright I guess. Gum, that distraction better be really good..."

Gum blew a raspberry over the radio. " _Ease up,_ Red! _I got this!_ "

Beat really hoped she wasn't lying about that...

* * *

 **A few hours earlier...**

"So _storm_." Tab said mockingly, but with a friendly smile. "How's it feel to know your songs are gonna get broadcast all over Inkopolis?"

Beat was startled, as he was packing in equipment into his dufflebag, now fraying a bit at the straps from overuse. "Huh? Oh, Yeah! Man this is gonna be _sweet!_ "

Tab chuckled, as he leaned on a nearby wall. "What are we gonna name it, anyway? I was thinkin'... _Jet_. You?"

Beat thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"Well, I mean, Gum wants to call it _'Squiddies',_ ya know, cuz that's what K keeps callin' us, but that's too childish, ya know?" Tab thought for a moment, while Beat thought more to himself. "Well. We gotta have a name before we set it up, right?"

They thought in silence for a bit, before Beat smiled wide. "Wait, I got it... Let's call it _Jet Squid Radio!_ "

Tab gave Beat a quizzical look. "What? That the best you got?"

"It rolls off the tongue well enough, right?"

Tab bobbed his head, before turning it into a nice nod. "Yeah, I can see that actually. I'll bring it up with him!" Tab started mouthing the words in different kinds of ways, as he walked off into the 'living' room of the hideout. Beat chuckled to himself. Today was a pretty weird day for him. First he meets these two squids out in the middle of lunch, and then by dinner time, he's helping some underground producer hack into a radio station so he could make his own pirate radio station. Not only that, he quickly rose to 'Most Wanted' in just one fell swoop!

It was definitely exciting. He's always wanted to step out of the boredom of being all alone, and even if it seemed scary at first, Beat didn't seem to care. He zipped up his dufflebag and walked outside the room to his waiting team, who were gearing up. Tab was bringing a large ham radio with him, while Gum managed to turn her clothing design up to eleven, looking just a little bit sultry in her redesigned skirt. Sporting just a tad more color at the ends, with striped sleeves, and just below knee length boots.

"You ready get funky?" Beat said, with a smirk. The group smirked back, and they all skated their way out, with K staying back to make sure everything went perfect for his debut on the airwaves of Inkopolis.

Beat didn't like that word. _Group_. It didn't really sound good. Kinda like it was missing something...

 _Gang Group?_

"Maybe if I shorten it, it'll sound good..." Beat thought to himself, as they split apart to get into position...

* * *

 **Present Time**

"Why did I agree to this?" Beat found himself asking, as he climbed precariously up the radio tower in his rarely used squid form. Beat never really found a reason to transform often, but it turned out that it was too slippery up here to climb with his bare hands in his kid form. The dufflebag weighed down on him as gravity began to take it's hold on the bug inside. Beat sighed, before looking up determined, as he continued to climb, or rather, shimmy upwards.

" _Shit, Beat!"_ Tab said suddenly over the walkie. " _They saw ya! How much time do ya need up there?_ "

Beat looked back to see that someone was calling the police on their phone, and he started to rush up the tower. He reached for the radio with his tentacle as he tried to speak into it. "Gimme like, 5 minutes!"

" _Cops are gonna be here in three! Speed it up man!_ "

"Ah crap..." Beat put the walkie away as he tried to double time it. He finally made it to the top and rushed to tape the bug to the antenna, fumbling with it. "Come on, _come on!_ " Beat started to panick when it wouldn't stick. He decided that he had to tie it to the station, which was taking up already precious time.

" _Uh, Beat? They aren't taking up my distraction anymore!_ " Gum said frantically. " _Are you gonna be alright? We can still run now you know!_ "

"Shut up! I got this!" Beat said over the radio, as he tired to fiddle with the tape to get it to tie around itself tightly.

" _You're runnin' outta time, Beat! Get outta there!_ "

"Just a few more seconds! I said I got this!"

 **"STOP RIGHT THERE!"** A voice boomed from down below. The police were here already?! **"This is police chief Onishima! Get down from there ya damn punk!"**

 _"Why don't you make me?!"_ Beat shouted back, as he finally got the tie around the antenna. The bug let out a sharp beep when Beat pressed the button to activate it.

 **"Fine! Maybe I will!"** Onishima said from down below.

Suddenly, Beat heard something splat next to him. He yelped in surprise as blue ink hit the side of the antenna next to him.

" _They're takin' shots at Beat man! Ah jeez!_ " Tab was panicking. It wasn't supposed to escalate like that!

Beat looked down at the police on the ground floor, while he was easily seven or so stories up. They had chargers taking aim for him, and he saw about three lasers pointed in his direction from the long range weapons. He gulped, as he slowly raised his tentacles up. _"Alright alright!_ I give up!" He said. He looked around a bit, as he saw a small team of police rush into the building.

 **"Alright punk! Just make your way down slowly, and we'll arrest you all nice and comfy in a little big globe, okay?"** Onishima sounded hilariously cocky as he said that.

Beat didn't know why, but he suddenly got really angry. Was he seriously just giving into these jerks? He looked around, and he saw an empty spot in their perimeter. _If he was fast enough he could easily..._

Beat valued his options for a bit. A small chance of escape with a high risk of getting splatted, over what's probably the worst time of his life stuck in jail.

Beat smiled, as he strapped his duffle bag onto him tighter, and he slowly, _slowly_ made his way down.

 **"That's it kid. Niiiiice and smoothly."**

Suddenly, Beat transformed into his bipedal form, and his skates landed with a heavy _SHINK_ on the side of the antenna, as he suddenly slid down the very steep slope, gaining speed incredibly fast. Beat suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline in his system as the suddenly calm atmosphere tensed, and the police were taking aim again. Beat jumped off the antenna, and towards the opening he had found earlier, jumping onto a railing that was conveniently in the way. Shots were following after him, but he was simply too fast to get caught by their chargers.

Beat didn't know why, but he found himself whooping as he grinded out of danger. It seemed fitting for him, that he then soon yelled out in a victory cry, " _JET SQUID RADIOOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 2: The Pirates of Music_** =-

* * *

"Yo, what is that crazy squid up to?!" Tab said from the apartment room he was set up in. "Gum?! Where's beat?! Police are lookin' everywhere for 'em!"

" _I-I don't know! I saw him up there, then he started skating down the radio tower!_ " Gum said in a great panick. " _Is he gonna be alright?! K! Are you there?_ "

" _Forget about Beat for now! Do you guys know if he taped up the bug I gave him?!_ " K sounded off.

A third voice chimed in, and relief swept over the group, even if for a little bit. " _Guys! Quit worryin' about me! I set up the bug! Do your thing professor! I'll meet up with you at HQ!_ "

Tab couldn't hold back the laugh that took over him at that moment right then and there. "Beat, you're absolutely crazy, you know that kid?"

" _Yeah yeah, save it for when I'm not gettin' chased by half of Inkuya, will y- OH JEEZ, MAN! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR YOU CRAZY SQUID?! I'M ON THE PHONE HERE!_ " Beat cut out on his side, but Tab had a feeling he was doing just fine on his own. Now it was Tab's time to get this radio station going. Tab fiddled with the dials, as he got to work following K's instructions. "First we get everyone's attention..."

* * *

"So I was just hanging out with Squall the other day. You remember Squall, right?" A group of inkgirls were talking amongst themselves, listening to a nearby radio.

"And I said to Yuffie, 'Why are you still hangin' out with that poser?' And she actually got mad at me!"

"Oh my gosh, what a jerk. I told you to stop hangin' around those two Aerith!"

Suddenly, the radio was starting to tune by itself...

"Hey, who's touching my radio?" One of the three girls asked, as she tried to fix the radio, with little avail.

The music returned suddenly, but this wasn't any normal radio station, not anymore.

 _"J_ _ET SQUID RADIOOOOOOOOO!"_ A voice suddenly boomed over the radio, startling the group as a funky music never before heard began to play.

 _"Hey out there! This is Inkopolis's very own, best and only pirate power station, Jet Squid Radioooo! Over the suburbs, through the streets, and right into your **brain!** " _The strange new radio host said.

"Hey what the heck is this?" An inkling said nearby, taking a look at his cellphone to see if the radio station he was listening to was actually correct.

 _"Sorry to say this squiddies, but I'm takin' over your airwaves for today! Courtesy of your new favorite DJ, Professor K! We're transmitting our signal straight to you! You all got your antennas on or what?"_

This broadcast was happening everywhere in Inkopolis. Confused inklings were everywhere, asking questions about why their favorite Squid Sisters song was suddenly interrupted.

" _Yeah! We're riding high on a smooth stream of supersonic sounds! And I'm your captain here on the S.S. **JET SQUID RADIOOOOOOOO!** "_

Callie and Marie were staring shocked at their radio, as they listened to the stolen radio channel.

Callie decided to speak first. "That's not..."

Marie gulped as she decided to finish her cousin's sentence. " _Professor K?_ "

Before Callie knew it, her phone was already ringing...

* * *

Beat was giggling like a giddy schoolchild as he listened to his music broadcasting live over _everything._ They went _big_ on this whole pirate radio station thing. Beat never felt so alive before! This wasn't just normal every day things. He was finally making a name for himself! Sure, it's not in the greatest light, but that doesn't matter to him. It was _his_ music! _His music! **Live on every radio station in Inkopolis!**_

Beat would have said this was the best day of his life, but nothing could really top his 12th birthday, as far as he was concerned.

Well maybe that one time when he first learned how to transform but that's a very close second.

Beat lost the cops a long time ago. He was just riding off that intense high he got, as he moved his scarf from his face and put it around his neck. "This is great!" He said out loud, as he listened to his music playing through his headphones. Professor K threw in some great songs of his own in there too, and Beat had to say, noone's ever really captured the feel of his music like K did. All in the span of an afternoon, Beat had just taken over every radio with his music, and the best part about it was when he saw the occasional passerby with their radio on, bangin' their head to _his_ music.

It was night time when Beat finally made it back. He rolled into headquarters and was almost immediately glomped by Gum.

"Beat! You suicidal maniac! What were you thinking?!" She said, as she throttled the poor squid.

"Hey! Ease up! I was thinkin' I could skate away from those guys pretty easily! And hey look! I did! Where's K?"

"Right here, my man!" The now equally infamous Squid came out of his booth. "What's it like out there? We got riots in the streets yet or what?"

"Not yet. The opposite, actually!" Beat said, as Gum finally let him go. "Oh man, you should have seen the streets. Some of those inklings were _dancing_ out there!"

"No squiddin'?" Tab said from the couch.

"No kiddin', either! I think Jet Squid Radio is a hit!"

Suddenly, someone's cellphone began ringing. Everyone was surprised when Professor K picked up. "What's up?" He said. He froze on the spot suddenly. " _Callie?!_ "

The group froze suddenly. Callie? As in the energetic half of the squid sisters? Professor K moved to put the phone on speaker.

"Yo yo, chill out girl! What's up?"

 _"What do you mean 'What's up'?! You just took over every radio station in Inkopolis!"_

"Ease up girl, you'll get your precious little radio back tomorrow night."

 _"A lot of people are gonna be really angry about this, K, and you know that!"_

 _"Of course I know that!_ I was plannin' on it!" Professor K let out a little laugh.

 _"We're shutting you down, K."_ Another girl, presumably Marie, chimed in.

"Aw, don't do that! I was just gettin' started!" Professor K had the biggest grin on is face as he sat down on the couch. "What would all the new fans of my cool new pirate radio station say about that?"

 _"K, I don't know how you did this, and I don't care why, but this isn't fair you know!"_ Callie practically pleaded.

"What do you mean? We're playin' on equal footing now! You've taken over every station already, I'm just... Taking your turf for my team!"

 _"Your team?! What team would that be, huh? You and those little rudies?_ " Callie practically spit back.

Beat had had enough of this. "Yeah yeah, call us whatever you want. So what if we're a bunch of rudies?"

Tab joined in. "Yeah! We're a great team! Better than you'll be, singin' the same song every year!"

Gum chimed in as well. "Yeah! Mess with us, and you'll see just how great our team can be!"

 _"What do they call you guys, anyway?!"_

Beat smirked. "We're the GG's. And Jet Squid Radio's gonna make it to the top, whether you want it to or not!"

"You better believe that's right! Hope it ain't too lonely at the top, girls, because it's gonna get crowded up there _real_ soon!"

 _"Why I oughtta-"_ Professor K hung up right then and there, as the whole group basked in their own glory.

"Nice." Beat remarked cooly, as he tried to find a comfy spot next to Tab on the couch. Professor K lent him his seat.

"So... _GG's_ huh? What's that stand for?" Tab asked.

Beat was tempted to tell them at first, but shrugged instead. "I dunno. Made it up..."

* * *

-= _Chapter 1, Part 2: Complete!_ =-

 _Rank: **C** rude Motor_

* * *

 **DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (Not required for 100% completion bonus)**  
Wewlad. We did it. We're not done yet though. It's gonna speed up before it slows down. Hope you guys are psyched by the time you actually read this. Also, two chapters in a row, wow. Not sure on quality control this time around, but after reading it so far, I think it looks good. You guys tell me if I missed anything.

Anyway, I'll see ya in the next chapter! Keep on rebellin', rudies!


	4. -C1,P?: Karma-

You know the kind of guy who does bad things and then wonders why his life sucks?

Well, that was me.

Every time something good happened to me, something bad was always waiting around the corner.

 _Karma._

That's when I realized I had to change.

So I made a list of everything bad I've ever done, and one by one, I'm gonna make up for all my mistakes. I'm just trying to be a better person.

My name is Pearl.

"Hey, Pearl, after we're done bein' police-squids, you think they'll let me keep the badge? It's a really shiny badge, and I bet we could get away with a lot of stuff if people think we're cops!"

"No can do Sandy. Pretty sure that would be stealing, and I don't feel like we should be adding _"_ _Stole a badge from a police officer_ _"_ to my list if we're already pretending to be cops. I'd probably have to arrest you."

"Well, if you do arrest me, do you think you could be gentle with the cuffs? I still have the scar from last time, and the squids at the motel would keep asking me weird questions. I don't wanna get asked weird questions Pearl."

And the squid sitting right next to me with his uniform on backwards is my brother, Sandy. He wasn't the brightest zapfish of the bunch, but he still had his heart in the right place. Today, we were filling out number 127 on my list. _"Didn't Respect Authority"_.

You see, just a couple hours ago, I heard that a bunch of outsiders were causing a bit of an uproar. They even took over my radio while I was listening to one of the Squid Sister's earlier hit singles. I won't lie, for a bunch of songs that weren't from the squid sisters, that 'Jet Squid Radio' or whatever had some pretty good music. We were listening to it now actually, since no other channel was up right now.

But I wasn't doing this to bust down the door on those squids. I was just trying to get into the shoes of an officer of the law so I could learn to respect the job they do for us.

And after having sat down in the same bench in the same park, I decided it was time to do our third patrol in the seven or so hours we were hanging around said park.

That was around the time that I saw it.

Now I'm not exactly the smartest squid I knew, but I did know a lot about crime, being that I wasn't exactly the purist squid either. I could see vandalism a mile away. And so could Sandy. He held the record for being the best spray inker this side of Inkuya. Maybe it was the smell and the pretty colors combined, but you had to hand it to him, he had a talent. We found a squid wearing a bright blue jumpsuit and tried not to look at his covered up legs while he spray painted in a bunch of differently colored green inks to spray the words "Jet Squid Radio" in a way that made even Sandy jealous of their skill.

"Uh, excuse me?" I said casually, as I walked up to the small time criminal. "Do you mind not doing that?"

The blue inkling stopped in his tracks, and gave me a bit of an odd stare. "Uh, yeah. I do mind." as slowly as he turned around, he turned back and set off to finish what he started.

"Well, I'm gonna have to arrest you then. Don't worry, I know cuffs can cut, so I'll be gentle..." I said, as I got closer to him. I dunno how he did it, but he started to slide away when I tried to grab him. I tried again and he slid away again. There wasn't ink on the ground behind him, which made this hard for me to understand. "Now just hold still so I can do my j- _HEY!"_

Before I knew it, this guy was sliding all around me like a slippery eel on a floor made of oil, and I just couldn't nab him for anything! Turns out skipping out on most of my police training was finally taking it's toll. This was Karma's way of telling me I should have just paid attention.

Sandy, on the other hand, was currently too busy making his own art on the wall to help me.

I dunno how long I tried to tackle this guy so I could cuff him and mark 127 off my list, but it didn't take either of us long to see what Sandy was doing.

"Hey, what the heck biggie? That's my tag!" The sliding blue inkling said, as he slid into Sandy, only to fall on his butt.

"Sandy! Come on! We talked about this."

Sandy was currently spraying his name in bold, intricate letters over 'Jet Squid Radio'. Now, it said 'Jet Squid Sandy' instead. "You didn't say anything about spray inking Pearl. And you know I like spray inking."

"Yeah Sandy but if you're gonna spray ink, at least try not to plaster your name over someone else's spray. Ask permission first."

The blue inkling was staring up at the elaborate spray. That's when he smiled. "Actually, I don't mind."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You don't? But Sandy just-"

"Hey, your partner there's actually got a pretty good talent. Shame he's a cop though. Would have been cool to ask you guys to join JSR."

For the weirdest time, I thought this squid looked familiar. That was when it hit me. He was familiar because I'd seen his name all over Inkuya's 'Most Wanted' papers. "Oh hey, aren't you that 'Tab' guy?"

"Yep..." He said as he got up. "That's me. You aren't gonna try and arrest me again, are ya? Because I'm a pretty good skater ya know."

"I'm thinking I'll try again when I catch up on my police training. Besides, you're not really hurting anyone. Sandy actually really likes you guys."

Sandy was currently humming some weird tune called 'Baseline.' At least that's what I think it's called... Now that I remembered, I was starting to remember another song and that started to get stuck in my head. I didn't even notice when that Tab guy started to slide away as I started to hum another song. Something about a dealer. I dunno what it was called but it was pretty funky.

When I realized what had happened, I got a little mad. "Ah, son of a bitch. Sandy, clean that up. We're gonna head back and finish training."

"Do you think they'll let me pet the police shark again? I really like the way it's skin had that little roughness to it that was still smooth. Do you think Sharks have that little fin on top because they used to swim in water or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous Sandy. Sharks can't swim, but they can walk backwards, and I always thought that was a little weird for some reason."

"You're right Pearl, that is weird..."

* * *

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 3: Complete?_** =-

* * *

 **DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (Now with slightly more importance)  
** Hey guys. I wanna start off with saying that I'm sorry for this chapter. I know all two of y-  
 _(What's that?)  
(There's five of them now?)_

I know that all _five_ of you following this story won't appreciate this too much, but I just wanted to make sure you guys had something before I finish the real chapter sometime tomorrow. It's just been hard because I thought I had a really good idea going into it, but whenever I started to write it up, I started to have some big issues concerning the kind of story I wanted to tell, and I found that I was revealing too much too soon to the audience, and it was just... _Ugh._

But yeah, after having done three different kinds of storylines, I decided halfway through that chapter to make this little fun thing to reference a favorite show that I'd recently picked up.

Anyway, I'll see ya in the next **REAL** chapter! Keep on rebellin', rudies!


	5. -C1,P3: Playback-

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 3: Playback_** =-

* * *

"Did you find it yet Callie?"

"Not yet. Stiiiiiilll lookin'."

"You don't think it's somewhere outside, do you?"

"Well, the police said he was climbing the tower. Oh, I _really_ hope it's not all the way up there."

The squid sisters were currently busy looking over the radio station with a fine comb. It was nighttime currently, and they were busy trying to fix the issue with all stations being Jet Squid Station.

"I can't believe they called themselves 'Pirates'. What does that even mean anyway?! They know we can't swim! How do you even-"

"Callie?"

"Yeah Marie?"

"Shut up."

"Oh... Ok..."

The silence that followed was deafening. Callie guessed Marie was taking this pretty hard...

* * *

 _Chink!_

"A toast!" Professor K, proudly presenting a burnt piece of wheat to the group after having clinked his glass with the rest of the group. Everyone let out a small little chuckle. "Alright that's enough jokes. We're here to celebrate, and it's all thanks to you guys that we were able to finally start this! 'Specially you beat!"

"Aw, come on." Beat blushed a bit. "I didn't do much..."

"You're right, you didn't. But you looked fresh while you did it and that was all that mattered." Tab joked.

Gum giggled. "You really had me going there. I thought you went ahead and splatted yourself against the sidewalk! I really hope you know how worried you got us!"

"Aw come on, Red's a professional technically. You can be a professional if you're the only one who knows how to skate, right?" Everyone thought about that for a bit, before unanimously agreeing.

"So. You planning on releasing that album Beat?" Tab said.

Beat immediately attempted to shut him up. "Shhh! I was supposed to tell them you idiot!"

Professor K mocked a girly gasp, while Gum actually did the whole girly gasp thing, being that she herself was actually a girl. They both leaned in, interested, while Gum spoke up. "Why didn't you tell us you were gonna release an album?"

"I was gonna tell ya myself but this blabbermouth spoke up first."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the wrong guy to be labelin' a 'Blabbermouth' Beat."

"Shut it. I'll splat you, I swear on my mom."

"Guys!" Gum interrupted angrily. "Come oooooon Beat! Tell us all about it!" Her anger turned to anxiousness.

"Even Professor K is excited." Professor K chimed in, a smile on his face. "What's it gonna be called?"

Beat sighed jokingly. "Welllll, if you must know... I've been thinking on the name for a while. What do you guys think about 'Say it loud- I'm Rude and I'm Proud'!"

Everyone shared mixed emotions over the name...

"No? Oh... Uh... Alright well that's fine. How about..." Beat thought for a moment, before excitedly attempting to relay his new idea. "Wait! No I got it! 'Professor Ks and Mr. Rudies'?"

Professor K raised an eyebrow. "What, you mean like... That whole story with those two doctors who are the same person? Sorry to tell ya, Red, but we ain't exactly the same squid, ya feel me?"

Beat sighed. "Fine. What would you guys call it then?"

Gum spoke up first. "Let's call it Squiddies!"

"Jet?" Tab suggested.

" **RADIOOOOOO**... But with like, twelve 'O's."

"Wow. You guys are horrible at this."

Someone's phone began to ring suddenly. Professor K picked up his. "Yo yo yo! You're talking to radio show host Professor K _live!_ What can I squiddily do for ya?"

There was a moment, before Professor K put the mystery speaker on... Well, speaker...

"Hey. In case you forgot, it's Marie. Check outside."

Everyone was deathly quiet. Tab went to a nearby window that overlooked the outside, and after checking, he quickly closed the blinds, turned to everyone in the room, and mouthed out with emergence. "They found us."

Professor K was slightly less quiet. " _ **They what?!**_ "

"Here's a pro tip. Next time you bug a radio tower, make sure you cut the signal before people trace you. See you soon." The phone hung up.

"Guys, they're sending in a squad..."

"Oh _crap!_ This can't be real!" Gum started to panic a bit.

"Even Professor K is afraid..." Professor K said, wiping sweat off his brow.

Tab hurried to lock the door, before running back to grab his skates.

"Tab?! What do you think you're doing?" Beat found himself asking.

"I dunno about you kids, but I'm leavin'."

"What about us?!"

Tab gave the group a look. "Do you not have your own skates or something?"

"Well... K doesn't." Gum remarked.

"Don't I?" Professor K said from the other side of the room, catching people off guard with how quick he had moved. He was currently placing some skates of his own on. "What? You think I've been stuck in that booth doing radio station stuff all day? Please."

The group studied each other for a moment, before they all nodded in determination. "Alright GG's. Let's roll."

"Do we have a plan?" Gum said, as she rushed to put her own skates on, fumbling a bit.

"Don't get caught?" Beat suggested.

"Wow you're horrible at this." Gum said flatly.

"Should've seen that coming..." Beat thought to himself, as he began to cover his face with his scarf.

"I got a real plan. Get your radios on Squiddies." K skated into his radio booth and began to pack up some things. Beat followed him in to help, while Tab and Gum began to do the same, while the banging at the door began, and slowly became more urgent...

* * *

"Onishima, sir?" A cadet spoke up over the chatter.

"What is it?! I'm busy here!"

"Are they really in there? It's been pretty quiet..."

"If they aren't in there then I'm not Captain Onishima. Do you understand?!"

The cadet shivered a bit, as he fell back in line. "Yes sir..."

"Good. **GET THE BATTERING RAM**." Onishima directed a team of _S.P.L.A.T._ (Specially Positioned Liquids and Tactics) to bust down the front door. The only way in and the only way out.

"Heave!" The leader of the unit said, swinging the ram back. The group followed suit when the pushed it into the door with a shuddering BOOM and a collective 'Ho!' from the rest. This went on for a bit.

"No good." Onishima remarked. "The door must be reinforced. **WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?! PUT MORE EFFORT INTO IT!** "

With more energy this time, the leader began to direct his squad's power into the ram.

"Heave!"

"Ho!"

 _"Heave!"_

 _"Ho!"_

 ** _"HEAVE!"_**

 ** _"Huh?!"_**

Just before they broke into the door, the door itself swung open suddenly, hitting the squad leader in the face while the rest attempted to pick up arms. They attempted to aim at the first person who exited but they were already out.

" **STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!** " An officer shouted over the megaphone.

The door wasn't the only thing that had suddenly been busted through. One after the other, the windows began to break open as Squids flew through the outside. One in green, the other one in blue, and one in purple. A red one currently weaving his way though the defensive perimeter the cops had set up with relative ease.

"Hey hey! Nice to see ya again Onishima! How's that job working out for ya?!" The red one taunted them.

Onishima's blood began to boil. " **SOMEONE BETTER _SPLAT THAT DAMN KID!_** " He even took out his own weapon,and began to fire recklessly at the red menace, everyone else shooting basically wherever they saw a color they weren't affiliated with. Streaks of color plastered the streets, and in the chaos, they lost who they were looking for. Of course they didn't realize it until about an hour later...

* * *

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 3: To Be Continued_** =-

* * *

DJ M̵̲̗̗͚ͅu̟̞̯͔͉̠̮s̰̘̲̰͎͈ͅh̤̼͇ͅo͓̞o͕̬'̦͕̣͠ͅs͔͓̳̬͚ ̢̞̫̜̦̮͖A̹̹͈̩̩͓̪͟ú̟ͅṭ̵̯̙͉h̶or's note (Optional Side quest)

W͟h͞e̢҉̧r͟ȩ́ ̡t͘h̀̕e̸̡ ͠h͜é͡l̢͞l ̴a̡m͟͞ ͟I̢͠?́͡  
͢͝

Th̴̀͘i̷̷s ́isn̵͠'͢t M͢i̵̛͘c̢҉͢ḩ̨iǵ̡ąǹ.̴̴͝.̵͠.̷̴

It's alm҉os̀t ͠l̡ike I was dead or something. Good thing I'm not.

Jeez, how long has it been? Feels like forever since I updated this story. Weird...

I probably shouldn't promise anything anymore. I feel like I might not be able to stay true to my word. Ah well. At least I got it up finally, after god knows HOW many edits I put it through. So many different ideas played through my head.

I was thinking of reversing the order the whole scene in HQ played out, like maybe the S.P.L.A.T. team came first and the casual talk about the album came after, like a way to kinda settle out after they hide out somewhere, and at one point I thought maybe I would just have Callie and Marie personally handle it. I settled instead for this and I kinda liked how it turned out personally, shame it's technically just a mini-sode. So far so good, but I know EXACTLY what I want to do next, so don't wait up, and keep on rebellin', rudies!


	6. -C1,P3,5: Playback2back-

A squid was minding their own business, tuning their radio into different channels.

There was always a song playing from the Squid Sisters, although not as much since the whole Jet Squid Radio thing, but this particular squid was tuning into a very specific frequency.

Some more fiddling and then it happened,

With a crackle and static fading out, the words of the police radio began to play through.

" _-All units, we repeat, calling all units. Suspects have been witnessed fleeing down 78th Inky-Dink Ave, I repeat, suspects are fleeing down 78th Ink-"_

The radio was shut off, and the squid kid at the operating end began to load up their ink tank. They adjusted their mask, looked off to the open window from their apartment, and jumped out. They shot a small puddle on the ground, and sank into it safely upon reaching it. The puddle suddenly became a pool, as something exploded from it and shot out forwards towards 78th Inky-Dink Ave...

* * *

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 3.5: Playback2Back2Back2Back_** =-

* * *

Gum has quite possibly, now and forever and never again going to be able to do that again, even if it was to save her life, which it did. She was in an alleyway behind a dumpster, while the following police unit's shouting began to die down as they distanced from her. She looked up to the sky, thanked whatever god gave her the blessing of escape, and keyed up her headset.

"Beat? Tab? Professor? I'm safe, what about you guys?"

There was silence... So she tried again.

"Guys?! Hey! Don't leave me hanging here!"

" _Hey Gum? It's a little hard to lose these guys with you screaming down our ears._ " Tab said over his end.

Gum sighed as the rest acknowledged her existence as well.

"Alright, no, you're right. Sorry. _Gaaaaah!_ K! You said the HQ was the safest place in inkopolis!"

" _Not anymore it ain't! Keep on skatin' guys! I'm running off that one place off Inky-Dink! You know that one place where there's just no one living in it? It got our names plastered all over._ " Beat explained the plan over his radio.

"Alright Beat. I'll see you there then. Lose the cops before you disappear there though!"

" _Hey yo! Same goes for you squiddies also! Don't let no blue inked fool see you now squiddies!_ " Professor K's loud voice came out as well over the radio.

" _Yo, there's some crazy kid super jumping here where I'm at. Doesn't he know the cops ar-_ "

There was a sudden static sound as Beat's voice cut out on his end.

The radio got silent, and Gum felt something in her stomach drop. "Uh... B-Beat? You okay?!"

Silence reigned...

* * *

"Ow ow ow ow ow! _HEY!_ You almost seriously hurt me there! I thought real splatter guns were banned outside of turf wars!" Beat complained, nursing his slightly splatted ear.

"Nah. Just ink tanks." The newcomer leveled his weapon. "I got a license though."

Beat was currently at a standstill with this vigilante. One wrong move and he could be splatted on the spot. Of course, he wouldn't be in any real danger. He'd just show up at a nearby respawn station for 'Incidental Accidents'. Of course his insurance wouldn't pay for his bill considering the fact that he's now officially a criminal.

And also the cops. Can't forget that they'll probably get him on the spot while he's still recovering. Hospital respawns aren't exactly as state of the art as turf war kinds.

Now, how to go about avoiding it is currently Beat's problem. He can't call for help since this guy shot his headset off. _Man those were like, 200 bucks too._

There was a long moment of silence that let Beat look this guy over. He was quite possibly the freshest guy he knew. Mainly because of the fact that he was labeled as such in a magazine. At least, he was pretty sure that guy was in it. There was someone like him, but that gas mask is a little bit weird. _Wonder why he wears that thing._

The fashionable squid kid spoke up. "So. You uh... Gonna monologue about why you're doing this or...?"

Beat was kinda caught off guard by this comment. "Uh... What? Why?"

The other squid, his face hidden under a gas mask, also seemed a little confused. "Well... I mean... You're kinda a bad guy now right? Isn't that like, tradition when you meet the hero?"

"I think you got it turned around my guy." Beat retorted. "I just wanted to play some music. You guys are blowing this way outta proportion! It's not like I made sure someone couldn't respawn or something! If anything, I think you're the bad guy!"

"Crime is still crime, and you gotta be willing to do the time, ya know? Tell ya what, just do the thing that cops ask you to do. Hand behind your head, on your knees, blah blah right to an attorney... I'm sure an outsider like you has heard that a lot before."

Beat was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowed a bit, before he spoke again. "Okay wait so like, is your only shtick just the fact that you know a lot of outdated stereotypes?"

"What? No. I-I mean, I just kinda figured-"

"Oh, right, no of course you just kinda _figure_ _d_ that, because of my one and only crime, and the fact that I was an outsider, that I know what it's like to be constantly on the run. Yeah, okay, real good job there 'hero'. What a great upstanding citizen you are."

Now, this current conversation may look like it's all just for laughs and giggles, but Beat had reason for this kind of attitude. If he didn't see that one inkling sneaking up on the guy with the gun, he may have had to throw in the towel and actually surrender.

"W-Well, okay yeah that's my bad. I'm sorry okay? Doesn't change the fact that I gotta take you in."

"What, like they won't take you in too? Some vigilante with a full ink tank-"

"More like a quarter left actually. I _did_ kinda just jump across half of Inkuya and then shoot out that headset of yours from a nearly impossible range without actually splatting you. That's not an easy trick ya' know."

"Okay then. Some vigilante with _a quarter of an ink tank_ , **_showing off the fact that he actively used it_** , isn't going to be arrested on the spot because he's doing a... What's the word..."

"What word?"

"It's like... I dunno. It's like... Dis... Dis- something... uh..."

"No I... I think you mean 'Citizen's arrest'. Where did you get the 'Dis' from anyway?"

"No wait, you're wrong! I know the word! It's 'Distraction'."

"Wait that's not the right word at al-"

The sound of wood meeting skull and then the sound of ink splattering all over the floor gave very clear indication to what happened to the squid, as they were suddenly splattered across a wall. Beat jumped about fifty feet at the sudden disappearance of another inkling, and fell flat on his butt. " ** _HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF THE GREAT ZAP FISH WHAT IN SOME IMAGINARY GOD'S NAME-_** "

"Shut it _and **start runnin'!"**_ The unintroduced hero said as he took off on his now bent board with wheels on it. _Hey wait a second._

"Yo! Hey kid you tryin' to steal my style here?!" Beat started skating after the guy.

"Nah man. Remixin' it. It's called a skateboard. Pretty neat huh?" The squid operated this skate board much more differently than Beat operated his roller skates.

The squid in question was a scrawny tall guy, but that's clearly masking some kind of hidden strength underneath. And that skateboard was pretty sick too.

"Yeesh. You straight up splatted that guy! I was thinking you were just gonna knock him out or something!"

"Yeah, I might have went overboard there actually... Heh, get it? Because I hit him over the head with my bo-"

"Hey kid how about you just not finish that sentence?" Beat had to rush out that sentence.

"Uh... Actually yeah fair point."

They skated away from the dying sounds of police sirens. "Okay so like. What's your name? Why'd you stick your neck out for me? You could get in serious trouble for this!"

"Yeah yeah, I've heard it all before. Listen, I know what you and professor K are doing. The rest of you 'Rudies' too. That's what they're calling you know."

"God I hate that. Just call us the GG's."

"Yeah, that's way better. I just couldn't stand day to day life ya know? Then I saw you out on TV. Then I heard you on the radio. Then I was thinking, 'Hey! This guy's making a difference! He's an outsider like me and he's making the most of his life' ya know?"

"Uh, being chased by cops isn't exactly my idea of a fun time if that's what you're thinking."

"Yeah I know but like, you get the point. You're making a _difference_ out here for us!"

Beat had stopped moving his legs at that exact moment. He slid to a stop as he let that sentence, no, that moment sink in. The other squid had to stop himself as well when he noticed that Beat had stopped following him.

"You uh... You okay?" They asked him worriedly.

"Yeah. No I'm fine. It's just... You really think I'm making a difference?"

"Well I mean, some people might not appreciate it at first, sure, but you're making a change for the better ya know! It's like that moment I saw you out on TV. Then I heard you on the radio. Then I was thinking, 'Hey! This guy's making a differ-"

"Hey uh... Didn't you say that already?"

"Uh... Did I?"

It was around that time that Beat noticed that someone nearby noticed him and had started calling the police. "Let's figure that out later." he said as he pointed out the citizen. They both skated away. "Listen kid, thanks a lot."

"I just did what I wanted to do, ya know?"

"Heh, you and me both. Split up at that crossroad there. I don't want the police to catch you with me."

"Yeah man. Thanks a lot!" The squid did Beat's two finger salute, and Beat did the same back, as they split up. Beat took out his phone as soon as he could and started making a few phone calls as he raced towards the now setting moon...

* * *

Marie and Callie waited at the hospital respawn centre. There was rarely a time when Marie and Callie mirrored the same emotion, but angering both of them was a quick way to do that if you really wanted to, which I doubt you would. They're just too nice in general to annoy them honestly.

They heard the telltale 'ding' that gave away the fact that someone had arrived. They didn't hesitate as they barged right in. "Got you, 'Professo'-!"

They were going to get loud mouthed with what they assumed was Professor K having been splatted by the police, but instead they found the limp form of Agent 3, snoring loudly, with his gas mask slightly off and his clothes in general just disheveled and messy.

Callie and Marie were both understandably shocked to see that their supposed best agent (and coincidentally their best friend) had their butt whipped and sent packing like that. It just didn't make sense.

Agent 3 suddenly woke up around the moment that the squid sisters had begun to set him upright. "I... probably should have noticed he was stalling for time there..." And just like that, he was out like a light.

Callie and Marie were going to have to have a long talk with this kid...

* * *

" **TWICE! WE LOST THEM TWICE IN A SINGLE DAY!** "

Onishima was currently absolutely furious. He called in every unit present for that disaster of a chase to criticise them all with extreme detail into how exactly bad it was. He even went and dragged a couple idiots who got themselves splatted by walking straight into the flying paint that was everywhere outside that abandoned HQ.

" **Not _ONLY_ did we lose them twice, we now have _absolutely no idea where they're gonna show up next!_** "

He was even carrying around that loud megaphone.

" **I don't know about you, but I'm not one to tolerate a failure like this! I WANT EVERYONE HERE TO START TRAINING IN THE TURF WARS AND I WANTED IT _YESTERDAY!_ AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"**

Everyone groaned in either embarrassment, pain, annoyance, or the unholy trinity of all three at once. Onishima finally put down his megaphone. "Get the hell outta my sight." He dismissed everyone as he went to sit at his desk.

He should have fire the entire police force right then and there, in his honest opinion, but then who would go looking after those outsiders? Just him and his trusty Magnum Splatter Pistol? No thanks. They were lucky to be able to find them before they dug out that rat hole of theirs deeper in. Now they've lost them entirely. At least there's not a lot of places for them to hideout. He was going to just call it a night right then and there but then someone came to the door.

"Not in a good mood." He said plainly, hoping they would get the message.

"You will when I tell you what I'm about to say sir."

Onishima rolled his eyes as he tried his hardest to get comfortable behind his office desk. " _Fine, come in._ "

A cadet came in, and Onishima sighed in relief. "Heh, should have just said it was you. That S.P.L.A.T. team of yours was a pretty neat idea ya know."

"Well they're completely useless without proper training. They were just glorified officers. You saw what happened out there right?"

"I made sure everyone remembered it. I think I saw it pretty clear." Onishima was currently twirling his ink pistol in his hand. He had a permanent scowl plastered on his face.

The cadet took out a notebook and handed it over to Onishima, or rather, placed it on his desk. "Yeah, well, I had a couple more ideas. Are you afraid of flying by chance? A couple designs came in for some kind of hovercraft and-"

"First the S.P.L.A.T. suits we had those rookies wearing and now this 'Hovercraft'? Why are they so interested in handing us these great designs? They could open up their own police station with stuff like this! They'd do a better job than those idiots outside." He waived his hand around to give the cadet a general idea, even if he didn't need it.

"Right. But yeah, they tell me they're gonna be giving us a lot more cool things like that. Things they called 'Splattackers'. It's a big ol' iron car with a big ink cannon on top! Almost completely indestructible!"

"Alright, now you're just pulling things outta them sci-fi movies kid. Slow down there."

"But sir this is real! I'm telling you, those squids don't stand a chance if we roll up in one of those!"

"Yeah, I guess not. All that for a couple of vandals seems a little bit like overkill though..."

"Actually sir, from what I understand, they splatted someone today while they were escaping."

" ** _THEY WHAT?!_** "

"Like I just said sir. We found a guy splatted against a wall today. People say it was blunt force trauma of some sort, because no other ink was fired. We found the suspects headphones shot off, so it's safe to say whoever the guy was, he was trying to be a hero."

"Trying to be or almost was?" Onishima scoffed. "I can't believe noone told me about that until now. _I'm the chief of police! I gotta know these things! It is my job!_ " Onishima began to rant, slamming his table all the way. Some people say that Onishima's megaphone doesn't actually work, and that's because he's normally really loud when he wants to be.

Nobody actually thought that was true until today.

The cadet, despite getting his ears yelled off, was smiling despite the furious state his commanding officer was in. When the time came, he'd be the one in charge.

 _Him and the rest of his kind..._

* * *

-= ** _Chapter 1, Part 3.5: Complete_** =-

Rank: _ **WHO CARES IT'S DONE**_

* * *

DJ Mushoo's Author's Note ( _It's not worth the experience to complete this, you should do the main quest._ )

Oh my lord it's done. I'm so sorry this took so long. I got so caught up in college that I just plum forgot about this.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was thinking of writing up a Binding of Isaac fanfiction (great game by the way, just got it for switch.) I would have lost the document for this chapter in like, 10 days.

But after I remembered this fanfiction I felt like I would never live this down if I never got to finish this. I may be slow but the last thing I want to be is a liar. I promised you this chapter and this is me giving it after waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long.

You honestly don't know how relieved I was to actually start writing this again though. I felt so free when I started writing again. I forgot how much I loved the feeling.

Sadly this won't be a regular thing. Definitely more regular than, (what's that limit again? Like, 90 days? That's what, two months? Yeah.) two months.

But yeah. I'm back. You know what to do. Keep on rebellin' rudies!


	7. -C2,P1: Rising Tides-

The streets were quiet and empty. Every Inkling for miles were fast asleep, save for a small group of outcasts waiting with bated breaths for their friend to return from what was possibly the closest shave any of them had ever witnessed. Professor K just got off the phone with Beat about an hour ago, while they set up shop in an abandoned old building at the heart of Inkuya. It wasn't nearly as nice as their old HQ, but at least it was roomier. They'd have to get used to all the critters creeping around the walls though...

There was a soft knocking at the door, and Tab, who was half asleep and waiting near the door on a chair, was startled awake, and grabbed the chair he was sitting on to use it as an improvised weapon. He carefully checked the viewport on the door and instantly recognized the red mass of tentacles belonging to his most recent friend, with a small splatter of yellow ink, probably from that vigilante he was told about from earlier, making a small stain on Beat's tentacles. Tab sighed in relief as he opened the door.

"Hey, there's the storm. Keep quiet, everyone's asleep right now." Tab cautioned.

"Yeah, I'd be the same way after today. I don't think my heart's gonna feel the same after how hard it was beating back there." Beat wiped off the sweat on his forehead. His clothes were practically drenched in it. "Got any food? I'm starving..."

Tab nodded as he checked inside a nearby Dufflebag. "Uh, we ate a lot of it but we got a couple Inkola bars here. Gum ate all the Crabbycake Surpise ones though so we only really got those super healthy ones. Those okay?"

Beat was thankful to chew into an old shoe at this point honestly. He reached in and helped himself to about five bars, while he took off his skates. "Man, this is crazy."

Tab sighed as he went to sit in his chair again. "No kidding. Man, I'm sorry about this Beat. If I knew what would happen I probably wouldn't have invited you to K's garage."

"Ah shut it." Beat said. "I don't regret a thing. You shouldn't either."

Tab was surprised by such a declaration. "You sure? I mean, none of us will probably live a normal life after this. Not anymore."

Beat just laughed. "Listen. I'd rather be on the run for the rest of my life than be sitting around bored out of my mind at home. Besides, I got you guys to help me through it all, right?"

Tab chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you do..."

They both shared a big yawn, as Beat wiped off the crumbs from all the Inkola bars he was eating, wiping off the neutral black ink from his lips as well that came from the healthy coating that Inkola bars were famous for.

"What are we gonna do now that they took down Jet Squid Radio?" Beat asked, as he found a comfortable place to sleep in where he assumed was the living room. The rest of the GG's weren't anywhere to be seen, most probably because they hit the sack in separate rooms.

"Well, they didn't quite take down JSR yet." Tab said cooly.

"What do you mean by that?"

Tab brought out a small radio out of his dufflebag, and turned it on. A Squid Sisters song played softly from it's speakers, since they seemed to get the radio tower back in control. Tab tuned the radio to a different station, and low and behold, Beat recognized the song 'Humming the Bassline' playing.

Beat was somewhat surprised. "Uh, how'd that happen?"

"That bug did a lot more than take over all the radio stations. Professor K didn't explain it fully to me, but he said that he took over an abandoned frequency too, and advertised it to everyone before those Squid Sisters took it down. He said that rain, snow, hail, or even an all out Octoling invasion ain't ever gonna bring that station down." Tab was practically beaming. Beat returned the smile, but yawned. "Yeah, alright, I can tell you it all again later. Get some sleep, squid. You earned it."

"See you guys in the morning." Beat yawned as he got comfortable on the couch. He fell asleep almost instantly. Tab did the same in his chair. They shared a smile in their sleep as the last of the moonlight disappeared over the horizon...

* * *

 ** _-=Chapter 2, Part 1: Rising Tides=-_**

* * *

Marie felt restless. Normally she's always calm and collected, and while she looked like that on the outside, on the inside she felt conflicted. Callie however was clearly livid, which is definitely going to ruin the shape of her face if she keeps frowning like that. She was brushing her teeth angrily while Marie was waiting for her turn. "Can you believe this Marie?! They can't catch a good for nothing has-been producer for crying out loud! You'd think that the whole 'Hey, it's dangerous times you know! Let's train a group of squids to handle a bunch of our problems for us so we can keep living safe lives' crap would actually mean something! But _no!_ Now we have a whole little group dedicated to trying to take us down!"

"Callie, why are you so angry?"

" _I'VE BEEN RANTING FOR THREE HOURS ABOUT WHY!_ "

If Callie had the power to break the sink with her spit, she would have done so just then and there. She groaned, bordering onto an angry snarl. "This is gonna ruin our beauty sleep." She complained.

"What do you think he's planning next?"

"I dunno Marie. I'm just hoping it doesn't last long. The last thing I want is competition."

"You honestly think he's going to be good competition?" Marie began to brush her teeth as soon as Callie cleared the general area.

"He practically made us, didn't he? Who says he can't do it again with some other squid?"

Callie brought up a good point. K was definitely the best producer out there when it came to the Pre-Squid Sisters Era. The fact that he's active again, and using such dirty tactics? It's definitely not gonna be a downhill battle, that's for sure.

"Well, we didn't exactly start from nothing. K said so himself. We had talent. We showed a lot of it when we won that Folk-Singing contest." _Spit_. Graceful and calm, but when Marie looked into the mirror, she noticed some bags under her eyes that she was sure wasn't there before. Callie had them too. They felt like they looked... _old_. _How late was it anyway?_

"Who sang those songs anyway? Those vocals were all over the place! There's no way someone can sing like that!" Callie was winding up again.

"Actually, some of the songs sounded a lot like us. It was weird, singing the same song to a different beat..." Marie had a couple songs stuck in her head because of that dumb radio highjacking. "I'm gonna personally make sure they give up this whole thing."

It was pretty silent as the so-called sisters stared at eachother for a small moment, reflecting on just how _tired_ they looked.

"We should head to bed" they found themselves saying at the same time. They even moved out to their own rooms in synchronization.

"Goodnight." they both said, once again in perfect sync. They even slept at the same time too, although whether that was because they were so in tune with each other or because they both felt as if they'd walked through quicksand today, would be up to speculation.

* * *

A hooded figure rounded the corner into an alleyway. At the middle of it, they stopped to wait. The quiet sound of a drain dripping echoed throughout the area.

Another figure, as hooded as the other, walked in sync with this drip, masking their footsteps under the light noise. "Did he like it?" the second figure asked.

"He's approved development. With my help, they'll have finished it to the exact detail in a few weeks."

"I see. How was your fifth day on the job? Do they know?"

"No. My true identity is practically nonexistent here. They'll never catch on. Were you able to convince any of the traitors to the north to join our cause again?"

"A few, although none voluntary. The prototype is weak, but it's good against the weak willed for now. They wouldn't walk into the sea if we said so, but they'll jump if we ask, and that's good enough."

"I understand. It's a shame they had to defect as they did. That Agent 3 truly did a number to our morale, didn't he?"

"It doesn't matter. Octavio will be pleased with our progress. Speaking of..." The figure grabbed a rolled up blueprint from within their cloak and handed it over. "Tell that new chief of yours that your friend has brought you another design a couple days before your current project is finished.

The other unidentifiable person took the blueprint and hid it within their own cloak. "Consider it done."

"If the plan goes as smoothly as it is, we will eventually be able to take back what is rightfully ours."

"Their crimes will not go unpunished..."

The two figures separated and disappeared into the night. The cadet took off his hood after he was a safe distance, a cruel and devilish smile on his face, disguised octopus tentacles bobbing weakly as he began to turn his walk into a run towards his 'home'. The Octoling empire will have their justice. _In due time._

* * *

The sun rose again over the city of Inkopolis. It was quiet still until the sun was about a quarter out. For us humans, you may consider it too late to wake up at 12 o'clock in the morning, however, for an Inkling, such a time is actually the norm. Working hard at Turf Wars usually means that everyone gets busy around the time the sun is at it's peak, as it gives everyone a proper time to recuperate from all the stress of constant running and inking in the morning. And Inklings in general are not actually that active also. Even those who don't participate in Turf Wars find it hard to wake up in the mornings. Inklings are just naturally lethargic.

Normally, Beat finds himself waking up at 8 due to all the unused energy of not turf warring, but today he had no ability to get up out of bed at such a time. The events of last night weighed his muscled down heavily and he only really opened his eyes at 12. It seems everyone except Professor K had done the same. He was currently loudly announcing his presence on his radio station.

" _That's right folks! Professor K is officially opening up his telephone lines for everyone to speak to him! Just be sure to call me up at JSR-INK-SKID_ _to get your one and only hot and exclusive interview with your main squid, me! **Professor Kaaaaaaaaaaaay!** You better get those headsets back on now, because we're cutting right back to your tunes! **JET SQUID RADIOOOOOOOOO!** "_

K's voice sounded muted from the room he seemed to be talking in. Must be pretty decent sound proofing...

Beat woke up with a yawn and a stretch to get all the soreness out of his body.

He got up and found his legs to be wobbling underneath him. It seems he really overdid yesterday. He didn't mind though. To him, this was all worth it. Gum passed by Beat, still dressed in her clothes from before, and refusing to give him any acknowledgement, with Tab following close behind.

He brought a small box and placed it in front of Beat. "Brought you breakfast. Gum is giving you the silent treatment. Don't ask me why. I don't get girls."

Beat nodded. "Me either. She's probably mad because of something that wasn't even my fault. I mean, I called right after to tell you guys everything, right?"

"Pretty much. You know you talk in your sleep dude?"

Beat scoffed. "Wow, really? What did I say?"

"A whole lot of nonsense. It sounded like you were having a fun dream though."

Beat wondered for a moment, putting his hand to his chin. "Actually, I wanna talk to you about that..."

Tab moved to take a seat, and Beat moved to do the same as well. "Alright then, shoot." Tab said, turning his full attention to his friend.

"Well, I mean, in my dream, you know, I dreamt I was in the future or something... Like, we had these neat skates that let us skate _straight up_ without momentum! It was crazy cool! And I was using it to spray up this weird new version of Inkuya-"

"Like what we did yesterday?"

"Yeah but it was different because when I left and came back to the tags, someone would have sprayed over my tag with their own tag!"

Tab found himself suddenly interested in this idea. "Well that's rude, why would they do that?"

"I thought about that too, but then I realized it was kinda like a game! You know, see who could tag as much of the place as possible with their tag and kicking them out to win!"

"So... Like turf wars?"

"No, nothing like turf wars, because it wasn't about just spraying wherever you wanted, it was about making your art known. It was about making a statement! It was about someone competing to have their artwork framed! It was great! It was-"

"A dream, Beat." Tab felt as if he had to interrupt his friend there. "Pfft, that sounds too much like Turf Wars for me to get behind it."

"Yeah, but it's not like Turf Wars at all. It brought people together you know? It broke the rules! It wasn't about how much paint you got around! It was about sending a message! It was about expressing yourself through an artform! About standing out and doing your own thing! It was a _rebellion!_ "

Tab started to laugh. "The way you talk about it sure does make it sound like some kind of new age renaissance. Man, if we could only get all of Inkopolis to hear you talk like that, we may just get people to be on board!" Tab's laugh started to get out of control. "Could you imagine?! A whole town skating around on roller skates, spraying up their names and stuff on the walls and everything?!"

Beat however, wasn't laughing. As a matter of fact, he was busy thinking about something Tab had said. "Actually, hold that thought buddy. I'm gonna have a word with K..."

Tab stopped laughing almost immediately. He looked at Beat as he got up to walk into the makeshift recording room K had set up last night, and was probably playing music to whatever audience he may have. Tab was completely confused with what Beat was doing.

Beat walked into the small studio that made up what was now the base of operations for JSR. Professor K waved at Beat. "There's the squid of the hour! How ya feelin?"

"Dead on my feet. Hey, K, what's a good way to get everyone's attention at once?"

K laughed. "Your best bet is probably highjackin' another radio tower, but I don't think we can get away with that a second time."

Beat smiled. "Yeah, you're right about that. I doubt I could run from the police if they figured us out right now. But a Radio doesn't get _everyone's_ attention. There's some people who don't like to listen to it or just can't find the time. Any ideas?"

Professor K had to think about that for a moment. "Well, the only thing that would get everyone's attention is if the Squid Sisters went and said something on TV... That gets priority over almost every show as far as I know. Why you askin' me anyway, red?"

A lightbulb exploded with light in Beat's mind. He practically slid to the other side of Professor K's equipment, and leaned over it to look straight at K. "So, what would you say to me if I said I wanted to take over the Squid Sister's TV show...?"

* * *

 **-= _Chapter 2, Part 1: To Be Continued_ =-**

* * *

DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (You get the idea for now. I'll tell you when it's important. Trust me. c:)

Whew. Pounded out yet another. Here's a treat for you folks who've been wanting and waiting. This may be it for a small while, but then again, maybe not. I'm not even sure what to take as the truth or not out of what I say. Sometimes I say "Hey it's gonna take a while" and then I just splurt (heh) out some words on a screen and bam new chapter.

I also very much enjoy tickling that foreshadowing bone of yours. _Do you like it as much as I do?_

(it's gonna happen a lot and I don't think it's really foreshadowing if I'm practically beating you over the head with Calamari for you to get it... _**W**_ ** _ait a second...)_**

Anyway guys, thanks so much for sticking with me, and be sure to leave me some reviews! Every single one keeps me going! Keep on rebellin', rudies!


	8. -C2,P?: La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo-

After the end of the second World Turf War,  
The world was split into two - **Inklings** and **Octolings**  
This marked the beginning of the era called the **_Cold Sea War._**

* * *

 **K'UMAMI PRESENTS**

 **A NINTENDEO KOJIMA STORY**

* * *

The inkling agent, code named "Mucasless Moray", came onto a clearing with a fissure that bisected the area. On the other side was a familiar character. Only known simply as, "Tigerfish", no doubt another code name. As he stepped out into that clearing, he made himself known to Moray.

"Ah, you're here at last..." the Octoling said from the other side of the fissure. He'd been waiting for Moray for a while now. Almost worried he wouldn't show. But it paid off in the end. "Looks like The Boss' info was right." A sore subject to bring up, calling to Moray's mentor, 'The Boss', and defector from Inklings, but one that Moray wasn't going to follow up on.

They stared each other down, Moray quietly watching Tigerfish's every move. Tigerfish drew his weapon first, catching Moray off guard, but Tigerfish didn't fire, not right away. He had a very strange new kind of weapon, one that was yet to be announced. A prototype if anything. He had a matching one attached to his waist currently. Dualies, they were called. The first weapon that wasn't tied to an ink tank, instead having six cylinder tanks within the weapon to load individually. Or at least, this specific design was.

Tigerfish spun his dualie around with practiced expertise, before holstering it once more. "Twice now you've made me taste bitter defeat." He spoke about their last two encounters, both within the same place. A moment of silence hung in the air, before Tigerfish rolled his head around, and let out a meow similar to that of a real tiger's, which was just a tape recorder in Tigerfish's pocket that he practiced matching up the sound and his head and mouth movements. Not a complex trick but it gave the intended effect, as this was also the sound that would have his own series of elite soldiers would show within the second, and that they did, covering Moray's way out from behind, effectively trapping him there.

Splatguns of all kinds were trained on him, truly looking like he'd be captured then and there.

Tigerfish spoke once more. "I hate to disappoint 'The Piranhas'..." He said, talking about the elite and strange team of Octolings working with Tigerfish and 'The Boss'. He pointed to Moray, as he continued. "But you're mine now." He then struck a pose, crouching slightly with his hands mimicking some sort of close quarters stance.

He straightened out, his hands still outstretched, and used those hands to gesture to his elite squad. "All of you, leave us." he said to them. Strange as it was that he even called them out in the first place. And so carefully, the elite squad slowly lowered their weapons off of Moray. This made Tigerfish very happy, as he looked back to his opponent beyond the fissure. "It's just you and me. No one to get in our way." They stared down for a soft second, before he continued. "Tigerfish are proud creatures. They prefer to hunt alone." Nobody really knew if that was an actual fact or not. Either way, the Octoling drew his dualies, and began to spin them wildly, with intense practiced motions, showing off for half of a solid minute, drawing and holstering his guns, before drawing them once more.

He aimed both guns at Moray, and continued to monologue. "Twelve shots." he said, before spinning those guns of his again, and holstering them once more. "This time I've got twelve shots..."

They stared each other down, eyes locked as tensions began to rise. The next time Tiger would draw, he would fire.

Tigerfish mumbled something to himself, a quiet 'okay', as if to brave himself for the fight he was about to begin. He then called out to his opponent. _"Draw!"_

They both drew their weapons and-

* * *

The TV cut to Static...

"Yo, what the heck man?" A squid says from the other side of the room, having been working on something just moments earlier on their computer, before their TV cut to static.

Then, there was that Jingle. Yeah, that explains that. The Squid Sisters were having yet another announcement it seems.

With an angry tired snarl, the inkling in the chair grabs an energy drink from the table (after fiddling around with empty cans to find which ones he hadn't downed in a single gulp) and kicks it back as they watch the TV. "Better be important."

As they watched the TV, they saw... Nothing? The camera was clearly set up as it was before all shows, but there was nobody in frame. The giant TV in center of frame had been vandalized. On it? A symbol and three letters. **J S R.**

"Huh..." the Inkling said, with some curiosity. "I should put that in my book..." He scratches at his chin, then looks back at the white page, and a blue banner on top. "Eh... Maybe not. I dunno if people care anymore honestly."

They look back and forth between the TV and computer. "Might as well anyway..."

With that said, they stretch out their back, and get back to typing away at their keyboard, as they tuned out the whole broadcast as they worked. "I wonder what all my followers have been doing while I was gone..."


	9. -C2,P2: You Better Watch That-

It was quiet at the studio. Shelly was alone by herself, making sure everything was perfect for the studio crew tomorrow when they went live again. Shelly was proud of her job as the Squid Sister's TV Producer. She was one of the only people allowed inside the studio late at night, with her and the squid sisters themselves having the keys to the place, as well as some key members of the recording crew. The night air was especially quiet. There was a coolness to it all that she just absolutely adored. She adjusted her glasses as she got back to work on making sure every little minute detail was _juuuuuust_ right.

Then she heard something she'd never heard before in her life.

 _Skrit. Skrit. Skrit._

All around the building. It certainly wasn't something she heard often. She made to look out of the window but saw nothing in the darkness. She shrugged off the noise as she just went back to work.

Then it got louder.

 ** _Skrit. Skrit. Skrit. Skriiiiiiiiiiit._**

Shelly was suddenly unsure of the safety of the building. Her mind immediately wondered if she'd locked the door. She turned around just in time to see what was coming, but not enough to react.

And then there was a thud, like a metal can hitting inkling skull (Do Inklings even have bones?) and she saw starfish swirl in her vision before she fell unconscious. She's probably wishing she had locked the door now.

* * *

-= _ **Chapter 2, Part 2: You Better Watch That**_ =-

* * *

"This feels mean, Beat."

"As mean as getting our little base of operations taken over by an entire police force?"

"Alright maybe not that mean, but ya gotta admit..." Tab had just finished tying up the girl that really should have been asleep at home by now into the office chair. "That's still pretty mean. What if you gave the poor squiddie a concussion, man?"

"She's fine!" Beat assured his pants wearing friend. At that moment, Shelly, the accidental damsel in distress, started making a weird cooing noise as her mind took her to an imaginary land. She giggled at whatever her mind had conjured. "Pretty sure at least..." Beat corrected himself.

He skated over to the already set up studio. Everything was in place. Cameras, green screen, that little TV the squid sisters had to show off map rotations and the likes. It looked just like every other broadcast. "Do they just leave everything here the same every time?" he bumped into the camera tripod that was there, turning it around ever so slightly.

It really was kind of pitiful, what this studio did. It all just seemed so... _Boring._ Samey and safe. Beat hated it.

"Hey, Tab. Get the spray ink. Let's _redecorate._ " Beat had a playful smile on as he was tossed the infamous can of ink by his partner in crime. They instantly got to work spraying inky chaos onto the entirety of the set. Colors, names and logos everywhere they can fit it, with an advertisement off to the side for Beat's new album.

As this was happening, a certain orange tentacled inkling was coming back to the land of consciousness. Just in time to see those two hooligans spraying up her entire studio!

 _"WHAT ARE YOU TWO **DOING?!"**_ She screamed out, attempting to struggle against the binds that held her down to the wheeled chair, only resulting in her pitifully rolling away slightly. "The squid sisters are going to fire me if you stain that green screen! You hear me!? _You're costing a poor inkling girl her job!"_

Beat stopped what he was doing at that exact moment, and skated backwards towards the gal. "Oh, that right?" He said, as he leaned onto the chair Shelly was slowly gliding around on, keeping it still. "That's rich, coming from a _Turf Warring rank C-_ , eh?" He took out the little wallet, which had many cute girly designs the likes of which men would vomit over. He let it fall open, revealing an official Turf War ID, which gave away every secret of an inkling's status in Turf Wars.

Shelly was immediately embarrassed to be called out for being a rank C-. "H-Hey! That's no fair, picking on me like that! You don't even _have_ an ID!" As long as they didn't see how many losses she had, she'd be alright.

"Yeah, you're right. But when you've only got..." Uh oh. "One win and... Wow, ninety nine losses? Jeez, they even gave you the nickname _Glass Shell_ for being splatted so easily. Now I just feel bad. I'm not even gonna finish that sentence. That just kinda finishes it for me honestly." He tossed the ID away, with Shelly trying her hardest to hide her ever growing embarrassment, refusing to make eye contact.

"Yo, we got another hour here man. Anything we should do before I call up K?" Tab skated over to the chair as well, placing his weight down on it, causing the trio to very slowly roll forward with none of them really noticing it.

Beat was cleaning out his ear with his pinkie as he thought. "Hm... You think they got ladders? I wanna see if we can get up there." Beat pointed to the still clean part of the green screen that extended well into the ceiling. Like... _Really far into the ceiling._

Tab shrugged. "Probably. What do you think, producer lady?"

Shelly refused to respond.

"I think so..." Beat said finally. They finally left Shelly alone, as the office chair slowly rolled out of the room and into the hallway, finally leaving Shelly alone.

She sniffled, as all at once the tears started coming out. " _I don't even like turf wars..._ " She said between quieted sobs, unaware of whether or not she was being heard. Which, as luck would have it, she was.

Beat was nearby still when he'd heard he had made the poor squid cry. "Ah man, you were right. I think I was a bit mean."

"Whuzzat? I'm on the other side of the room man, I didn't hear that. _Oh hey, I found a step ladder!_ That's a ladder right?" Tab said, from the other side of the room... Man...

Beat shrugged, as he tried to roll back to the girl currently having a terrible time outside, only for his roller skate to stop on the leather wallet from before. He picked it up and looked at it. The idea of merchandising JSR came to mind, and it put a big smile on his face. He slid back over to the girl.

He leaned back onto that chair, this time from behind the girl, making it unable for her to turn around to look at him. "Hey, you feelin' okay?" He asked with a level of sincerity in his voice.

Shelly sniffled before answering. If she was anything, she was honest. _"N-No..."_

Beat sighed. He was fairly certain his mom would have something to say about making a poor little girl cry like that. Thankfully, she won't know until she reads this. (Hi Beat's mom. Don't worry, he's going to say sorry. Please don't ground him.) With that said, he held the wallet in front of the girl. "Never seen designs like this before. You know who made them? They're..." Beat looked at the horrendous amount of girly decorations upon this awful wallet, the mere sight of which made any shred of masculinity within an inkling shrivel up at the sight, and decided a little white lie never hurt anybody. "Pretty good."

Shelly, none the wiser, didn't notice that pause in Beat's speech, and tried her best not to cry any louder than she already was. "Y-Yeah... I made those."

Beat laughed. That really was convenient. "Maybe you'd be a better designer than a ranked battler. You ever think about that?" He tossed the wallet and caught it, much like a punk would with a baseball he'd found on the ground somewhere while trying to look cool. He even did that little elbow lean on the chair while he did this. "I mean, what's the point of turf wars if you can't have any fun?"

Tab then butted into the conversation. "Yeah. The game is fun. If it's not fun, _why bother?_ " Tab was now leaning onto the chair as well... He then looks momentarily confused for a moment.

"Well said buddy." Beat waited patiently for Tab to do... Whatever it was he was doing. "Hey, are we set up yet?"

Tab suddenly has an epiphany, as the reason he came over was reminded to him almost immediately. "Oh... Yeah about that... Uh..."

Beat scratched his head. "Man, there's no way you're having this much issue trying to find a ladder." He eased off the chair and put his hands in his hips as he looked out to the TV Studio, which was slowly becoming a right and proper mess thanks to Tab's hard work.

"Well, you know stepladders? Well, they ain't the same thing as a ladder, man. Totally different things." He was quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time. "So uh... I need a ladder... Man..."

Beat sighed. "Uh, lemme think... I think I saw one-"

"There's one in the custodian's closet, it's down the hall to the left." Shelly said, the flow of tears no longer streaming freely down her face. Tab quickly skated off after a quick thanks, feeling the time constraint they had set bearing down on him, despite having plenty of time still. Which left Shelly and Beat alone in the hallway for the time being.

Beat scratched his cheek with a lone finger in embarrassment, not really knowing how to proceed from here. "So uh... I guess what I'm trying to say is... We could use a... _Product... Designer?"_ Shelly careened her neck in the most awkward way she could to give him a wide eyed, surprised look. She was completely speechless. But Beat could very clearly see a thought cross her mind, and she considered the offer with doubt.

She was heavily conflicted. She'd always wondered what it would be like to make things for people instead of having to always play in turf wars just to make money. But on the other hand, she'd give up her status as a normal inkling girl to become an outsider. Was giving up your role in society worth it if it meant you could do what you wanted? "I dunno. I don't think I-"

"It's not as lonely as you might think, being an outsider." Beat had a rare case of intuition on this subject. "I mean, me and the rest of GG's are all outsiders... But I think that we're all better friends than anyone who just makes friends with people just because they're good at a sport or something." He remembered fondly how much fun he had simply just sitting in that diner with his newly made outsider friends. It wasn't about ranks or wins. It was about enjoying each other's company. And he's heard so many stories about Inklings dropping people from their friend circles just because they weren't a high enough rank. Beat could never do that to his friends.

"You're passionate about this kind of stuff, right?" He flaunted the wallet once more. "Shouldn't that be the only thing that matters?"

Shelly tried to shrink in on herself, still doubtful. Beat then untied Shelly, and once she was free, she rubbed the marks on her wrists from how tight she had been tied down. Beat patted her on the head, like he would a pet. "Think about it." That was all he said before he skated off to the TV. He wasn't going to be using it, and he figured he could do some more _'work'._

Shelly sat in the chair for a solid minute, simply watching. After that minute, she wiped off the remains of salty wetness from her face, and got up to find a quiet secluded place. Her first instinct was to take out her phone, and start dialing the emergency number. 9-1-...

She hesitated. Or more likely, she felt paralyzed as her finger hovered over the last digit. She willed her finger to move but it wouldn't. She didn't know if she should. She closed her phone and held it close to her, as she thought about it all. He did ask that she think about it, after all, and it'd be rude if she didn't... So...

Hm...

She had ran off to the girl's bathroom, and found her mirror image looking directly at her. She stared back, as they shared a somewhat blank emotion. She was a mess. Her tentacles were scrunched up ever so slightly, her glasses were askew, and she had terrible bags under her eyes. She got to work making herself look a little bit more presentable, but she couldn't really do much about how tired she looked, her eyes still puffy from tears.

Suddenly, she was angry, and she smacked both of her hands on the sink in front of the mirror, refusing to look into that mirror again. She hated how right that kid was. If it wasn't fun, **_why bother?_** Why should she care what other people thought of her? _Glass Shelly_ , the girl with barely any friends, and a knack for design, forced to take a job she didn't even really care that much about. No one cared about her position of managing the Squid Sisters. Nobody really knew she existed, and if they did, they only cared about how bad she was at turf wars. She felt her hands curl up into fists, and then all at once, her anger became motivation.

She looked up at the mirror once more. She definitely didn't look as tired as she did before. She'd thought about it long enough. She left the room, and practically stormed over to the chair she had been bound to moments ago. She grabbed some rope, and tied up her tentacles with it. With some work, she managed to meld down parts of her tentacles over her head to look like almost seamless, save for the somewhat obvious bumps of mass, and the ends came out to some rather long double ponytail. Much like a traditional hairstyle for boys. She'd taken off her jacket, and tied it around the waist.

She looked like a punk now, and that was fine. She didn't care what people thought anymore anyway, right?

Tab had finally come back with a ladder. "Man, you didn't say that the custodian's closet was some kind of alternate reality. The thing is like, three times as big as- Wait what's with the getup?"

Shelly walked up to Tab, and held her hand out. "Spray can." Was all she said. Not even bothering being nice about it.

Tab smiled, as he handed it over. "You're a strange one, kid." He chuckled as he patted her on the shoulder and skated away. He called back to her from over his shoulder as he joined Tab at the TV, who was currently thinking about what else he could do to improve it. _"Welcome to the team!"_ With that said, Tab pulled out his phone, his speed dial setting him up for a phone call with Professor K. It was almost time to go live...

* * *

There's only two events in the world that could wake the Inkling world all at once out of a peaceful sleep through the morning. Threat of an Octarian Invasion, and everyone's TV's all starting up at once to display a priority announcement from the Squid Sisters announcement channel.

You can probably guess which came first.

Every Inkling recognized the sound of a TV Announcement and were immediately wide awake. It didn't matter that it was getting into their sleep. A special announcement got _everyone's_ attention.

And today would be a special announcement nobody would forget any time soon.

The TV started with the splash screen that every announcement started with... But it was static, and you could clearly see a pair of ink splattered hands at the bottom and top. A third set of hands holding a boombox then came into frame and hit play. A funky beat began to play over the broadcast. Funky music straight from the Jet Set Radio channel. And when the hands moved the splash screen, which was revealed to be a cardboard cutout, none other than Beat and Tab were in plain view.

 _"Good morning rudies!_ Here's your special TV Broadcast just for you!" Beat said, taking the lead for the show.

Tab continued on, just a little bit shaky it seemed. "Yep. Open up your eyes and your ears. We've got a doozy." Tab wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Beat was about this. He did tend to be the quieter one when it came to strangers after all, and now that he was in plain view of the world? Well, he was just a tad self conscious.

Beat kept up the chipper tone from the left side of the view. "That's right. Today, we have an all new map rotation to announce!"

The world was confused. First off, how'd these idiots get on TV? Second off, _what did they mean an all new map rotation?!_ Wasn't that the squid sister's job?

"Now I know what you're thinkin'-" Beat started off. " _What the hell Beat? Ain't that the squid sister's job?"_ He had a somewhat mocking voice as he said that. "Well, yeah, you're right. But this ain't for Turf Wars. This is our own game! You get yours, right? Why don't we get ours?" Tab and Beat shared a chuckle, as they pulled out some more cardboard.

"Today's map rotation is simple. Every day gets one new rotation, and today's is our very own _Inkuya._ They've cleaned out all of our cool 'murals' from the walls, and that ain't cool! We worked hard on making that place have more color, so today, you guys gotta pick up the slack!" Tab announced, feeling more confident as the show went on, as he pushed the idea of the whole world looking at him out of his head and just focused on the script. As he was talking, he had pulled out a smaller, new cutout to show off of the landmarks of Inkuya.

"That's right everyone!" Beat said. "The game is simple! _Have more spray tags than everyone else!_ The game ends when the sun goes to sleep for the night. Got it? **Good!"**

Tab butted in this time, as he carelessly dropped the cardboard cutout featuring some landmarks of the Inkuya district to reveal another cutout behind it, featuring Beat and Tab spray painted on, giving some pictures to better help explain the rules. "Anything goes when it comes to spray ink. Make sure to get to hard to reach places to avoid getting your tag sprayed over!"

Beat pulled up the radio into frame as the tunes died out. " _Hey! Look at me 'ma! I'm on TV!"_ K's loud boisterous voice played through the radio. _"But ya'll knew that didn't ya?"_ K's voice crackled over the speakers as he laughed. _"Remember, it may be a competition, but we ain't knockin' off points for making friends along the way! You can put as many people as you want in your gang, so remember that squiddies! Now get out there and **get funky!** Stay tuned in, your main squid K's got your updates and reports covered! Now, if you don't mind, I've got some sick, fresh new beats coming up next!" _ And with that, the Radio tuned back into those sick fresh beats.

Of course, there were sounds of police sirens getting closer to the building as they continued to talk. Beat was acutely aware of this, and playfully beat the cardboard out of Tab's hands, who was currently shuffling through them while K talked to give everyone at home a visual, much to his dismay of being embarrassed in front of the world. Thankfully his stone cold expression and hard glare took over before he could show distress.

"Anyway, looks like we're out of time! We'll be keeping up the news on our very own radio station, 'Jet Squid Radio'!" Beat bumped the side of his fist to his chest, and threw out a peace symbol as they announced the end of the announcement. "Don't let those cops catch ya! Remember to **_stay off the hook!_** Or it's an instant gamer over!" Beat then skated out of the staging area.

With that said, Tab gave a similar gesture, and skated off after his friend. The show didn't quite cut off yet, however. Not until a third inkling came into view however, a fake visage of spray painted tears and wild color to mask their identity, with a step ladder in their hands. They blew a raspberry, as the ladder eventually hit the camera, causing massive damage to the lenses and officially ending the announcement. The last thing the viewers saw was the graffiti spray painted onto more cardboard taped onto the step ladder. It said " _Sea_ ya!" in a beautifully puntastic way.

Callie and Marie were standing perfectly straight and staring at their TV as it finally cut back to black.

They both had their phones out trying to call Shelly as all this was going on.

But it went straight to voicemail...

* * *

 **DJ Mushoo's Author's Note (Mandatory Collectible)**

Epic.

Keep on rebellin' rudies!

* * *

 ** _NAH JUST KIDDING!_**

What, did you seriously think I would disappear for like, a whole year and then not explain what's up? Come on, have some more faith!

Sorry for the teaser earlier. I was still writing up this chapter when I made that just so that you guys could have a little something to tell you that I'm back in it again. I dunno if you guys will forgive me for this, but oh well, there's not much I can do about it at this point. I'm just glad to have the free time to finally write something again! I've been constantly back and forth between jobs trying to make enough money to survive that I've had almost no time to write this, and it sucks, because I have shit from way back in my google docs that's like "HEY WOULDN'T IT BE COOL IF THIS HAPPENED HOLY SHIT DUDE YOU SHOULD WRITE THAT NOW" and me, now a year older after writing that, just went "yeah haha cool lmao brb gotta go work at taco bell for like three shifts" _LIKE?!_

But yeah, I'm free of my curse and now have an actual schedule I can follow which gives me plenty of time to, ya know, actually write this story?

Ontop of that, I'll also be working on another story in the meantime, mainly because if I run out of fuel for Splatoon, I'll be able to replenish it while I work on the other story as well. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait, and hey, keep on rebellin' rudies.

It's good to see you all again c:

Edit: BECAUSE MUSHOO FORGOT TO UPLOAD THIS YESTERDAY, HE SHOWS THE WORLD THAT HE'S LAZY AS HELL, AND MAKING HIM TONIGHT'S BIG LOSER!


End file.
